Summerland Season 3
by 6Ellie6
Summary: Hope you like it! Last ever chapter now posted! Chapter 39 now added!
1. Chapter 1

**Summerland**

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. Original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

A/N: I've missed Summerland so much, so I've decided to write my own fanfic! This is my version of series 3. Hope you all enjoy it, only just started so I don't know when I'll be posting and how often, etc, so bear with me! J

Main Characters:

Ava Gregory Johnny Durant Susannah Rexford Jay Robertson Bradin Westerly Nikki Westerly Derrick Westerly Erika Spalding Cameron Bale

Colby Freed

Chapter 1

--

Ava Gregory rolled over in her bed to see the man whom she had loved since she was a teenager. She smiled as she watched him peacefully sleeping, thankful that they had finally got together again. The sound of cartoons blasting up the stairs and inaudible talking told her she wasn't the only one awake. Slowly and carefully, so not to wake Johnny, she out on her dressing gown and went downstairs. The TV repeatedly flicked back and forth between Spongebob Squarepants and the news channel.

"Nikki, that's my favourite episode, put it back on!" Derrick said, fighting with his sister for control of the remote.

"Derrick, you've seen it before, it's a repeat, it will be on again. I want to watch the news, you know the thing that _doesn__'__t _do repeats." Nikki argued back, slowly gaining control of the remote.

"Find something you both want to watch." Ava said warningly. "Or the TV goes off." Derrick gave in angrily and gave the remote to Nikki. He joined his aunt walking to the kitchen, where Bradin was already leaning against the counter and eating his cereal.

"I was thinking we could all spend the day at the beach today, the weathers great." Ava said cheerily.

"I'm going to be down there anyway, me and Erika were going to catch some waves. What?" Bradin said, seeing the disapproving look that crossed his aunt's face.

"Bradin, sweetie, you and Erika aren't still thinking about being a couple, are you?" She said, as she watched him clean his bowl in the sink.

"So what if we are? It's no one else's business but ours." He said madly before storming into his room, slamming the door behind him. Ava sighed, she decided against mentioning it again, trying to prevent him from doing something stupid to get back at her.

"Someone doesn't seem happy." Ava jumped and turned to see Susannah. "Mention the Erika thing again?" Ava nodded as she poured herself and Susannah coffee.

"I just don't know what to do about them two." She sighed.

"Maybe you should just leave it. I mean, they do like each other, a lot too, and if you're right then they should break up eventually. For now, I say you should just try and be happy and supportive of him." Susannah replied before taking a greedy sip from the mug cupped in her hands.

"Thank you, Dr. Phil." Ava said with a laugh. "Anyway, are you up for coming to the beach with us today?"

"Sure, sounds fun, not like I have much else to do." Susannah replied.

"Is it OK if I ring Cam to meet us there?" Nikki called over.

"Of course it is." Ava said, then jumping as she felt two muscular, toned arms wrap themselves around her waist. "Johnny, you scared me!" She laughed, before turning round and kissing him. Nikki and Susannah exchanged a quick, happy glance before they broke apart.

"Aunt Ava, is it OK if Martha comes to the beach with us, too?" Derrick asked, speaking up for the first time since sitting down and eating his cereal.

"Sure, honey, would you like me to ring and check with her mom?" Ava asked, knowing she had to be careful where Martha was concerned.

"Yeah, that'd be great!" He said happily. Ava ruffled his hair before he ran upstairs to get changed. The others quickly followed suit and one by one headed upstairs to get ready.

Twenty minutes later and everyone was downstairs, dressed and ready to go. Ava knocked on Bradin's door.

"Bradin, are you coming to the beach with us or are you going later?" She asked.

"I'll be out in a second!" He called.

"Good morning, all!" Everyone turned to see an exceptionally happy Jay standing at the door. Isabelle and her son, Danny, were there too. "I have happy news," he said with a grin, casting a secret look over to Susannah who already knew, "after a bit of convincing from Jay Robertson, Isabelle and I are having a baby!"

"Congratulations, you two!" Ava said, hugging them. "Finally, Jay Robertson is going to be a dad, wow that's a scary thought!" She laughed when hugging him.

"Yeah, yeah make jokes Ava. But I am going to do everything in my power to give my wife and children the best life possible." He said.

"Stop going all mushy on us, Jay." Nikki said as she gave him a congratulatory hug.

"Did I just hear Jay say he is going to be a dad?" Bradin asked with a grin on his face as he came out of his room. "Poor kid." Jay gave him a fake punch in the gut and they quickly hugged.

"Jay, would you, Isabelle and Danny like to join us at the beach?" Ava asked beaming at them.

"Honey?" Jay asked Isabelle, smiling, loving being able to finally act like a proper couple.

"Sure." She replied, giving him a quick kiss, and having to wrench his hands off of her as he predictably wanted more.

They all set off out into the garden and down to the beach.

"So, how many weeks pregnant are you, Isabelle? You're stomachs flat as a board." Ava asked, smiling.

"About six weeks, I think, but I can't be sure." She replied.

"You know, I never thought it'd feel this good." Jay said, still smiling as he had been since they had saw him.

"We can tell." Johnny laughed, looking at the smile painted on Jay's face. "I wonder if we'll ever start our own brood." Johnny said to Ava, putting his hand on her waist.

"Johnny!" Bradin and Nikki said in unison, both slightly sickened. Derrick, however, wasn't paying much attention and had rushed off ahead with Danny, talking animatedly. Finally they picked a good spot on the beach and had started laying down their blankets and towels.

"Erika!" Bradin called, having spotted Erika a slight distance away up the beach. They jogged to each other and kissed, causing Ava to look away disapprovingly, but she said nothing.

"Want to catch some waves?" Erika asked suggestively, after breaking free from the embrace, and they walked off hand in hand over the rocks to get ready to surf.

"I'm so glad that I'm no longer Wave Crasher's 'bad guy', but that doesn't mean people are thinking differently about some of the stuff that got leaked." Bradin said, annoyed, as he pulled on his wet suit.

"Your aunt?" Erika asked.

"Yeah, she hates us two being together. And Derrick hates me 'cause I'm not the 'bad guy' anymore. It's like no matter what I do I still do everything wrong." he said sourly. Erika slid her hand into his.

"At least now we can be together without as much hassle off everybody." Erika said, smiling at him, try her best to cheer him up.

"Yeah, I know," Bradin said putting his hand on her cheek. "that's the only thing that's been keeping me sane." He kissed her passionately. He felt so good, they no longer had to hide, they could go to public and kiss in front of everyone and not give a damn because their opinion no longer mattered.

"Maybe we should catch some waves now." Erika said, after about 2 minutes stood kissing.

"Ok." Bradin replied with a mischievous grin. "But I know something else we can do if we get bored here." Bradin winked at her and let his hand trail down her back as he kissed her again. Erika broke the kiss and put her finger on his chin to stop him kissing her again.

"Maybe, but I want to surf a little first." She said teasingly and ran off into the sea. Bradin watched her and bit his lip slightly before quickly running in after her.

--Back at the beach--

"Martha!" Derrick cried, grinning, as he saw her walking up the beach with her mother.

"I have to go to see a movie with Chris, Martha's brother," Carol said awkwardly, remembering what her son had done to Ava in the past, "but I should be back to pick Martha up at around 5:30."

"Ok, see you soon." Ava replied.

"Hate her." Susannah said once she was out of ear shot.

"She's not _that_ bad." Ava said, defending her, but failed because of the grin on her face. Ava looked over at the kids. Derrick had introduced Martha and Danny and they were now playing. She smiled and looked ahead again, only to have a volleyball hit her in the face. Johnny had been the one who threw it.

"Come on, don't just sit there doing nothing, lets play volleyball!" Nobody argued with this and soon they were all playing, even the kids.


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. Original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

A/N: Please give me a review and tell me how I'm doing so far, and what I can improve J

Chapter 2

--

It was now 3 o'clock, and after quite a few hours of volleyball, swimming and sun bathing, everyone had decided they had had enough of the beach and came home. Jay, Isabelle and Danny had went home and Derrick and Martha had went upstairs to play. Nikki and Cam also went upstairs out of the grown ups way. No one knew where Bradin was as he had not rejoined them but had stayed with Erika the whole time.

"Oh, damn, I forgot!" Susannah said all of a sudden. Ava and Johnny both turned to look at her.

"What's wrong?" Johnny asked. Susannah had walked over to the phone and started dialling.

"Important business and finance stuff. I was supposed to called Colby, he's going to go… Hey, Colby! Sorry I didn't call we were down at the beach, but yeah I can go over it now. I'll just go upstairs so I can look through the files. Ok, 2 seconds." Susannah said, walking up the stairs. Ava and Johnny lounged on the sofa, both slightly tired from the day. Johnny looked around the room. Everything was strangely quiet, except for the distant muttering of Susannah occasionally and footsteps could sometimes be heard, belonging to Derrick and Martha, he guessed.

"Wow, for the first time since, well, forever, we're alone." Johnny said. He gave her a soft kiss on the lips, then across her cheek and on her neck.

"Johnny," Ava said with a laugh, "everyone's still here!" He looked up at her from her neck where he was kissing.

"Yeah, and they're all doing their own thing, and should be for a while. Maybe we should do our own thing." Johnny said and resumed kissing her neck, working his way down to her collar bone.

"Johnny, we can't do it here in the living room!" Ava said with a laugh, although she was enjoying every second. "Why don't we tone it down just a little bit." Ava started to make out with Johnny instead, as she knew if he kept kissing her the way he was before she'd soon give in. They kissed for about ten minutes on the sofa, when suddenly there was a knock on the door, startling the two of them.

"I'll get it." Johnny said as he helped Ava up. He gasped when he opened the door. Stood there was a teenage girl, about 16-18 years old. She had brown hair with bangs that came down to about the bottom of her shoulder blades and chocolate brown eyes. She had beautiful, slightly tanned skin and was wearing a light blue baby tee and a knee length denim skirt. She was very pretty, but one of her beautiful chocolate brown eyes was red and puffy. The light blue baby tee she wore revealed several bruises, some a horrible purple colour. Johnny noticed a suitcase at her feet. There were tears in her eyes as she looked up at the man at the door.

"Uncle Johnny," the girl said, her voice slightly muffled through little sobs, "I need somewhere to stay, my mom threw me out." Johnny looked horrified, as did Ava who was looking over Johnny's shoulder. Johnny said nothing but stared at his niece, then finally picked up her suitcase and gestured for her to come in. When no one else spoke, the girl felt she owed an explanation. "I'm sorry to just show up like this and push myself on you, but you said if my moms… habits… get out of control, that I should come to you." The tears in her eyes were building. She was terrified that her uncle wouldn't allow her to stay in his house. Then what would happen. Would she have to live on the streets? She didn't even want to think about it.

"Demi, what happened to you?" Johnny asked once he regained the power of speech. He scanned her body and felt more and more sick with every bruise he saw.

"My mom… she's been drinking, a lot." Demi said, tears falling thicker and faster as she spoke. "She's started going out every night, I know she's started doing drugs. And the drugs, they make her do stuff that she wouldn't normally, I mean, she loves me but when she takes drugs…" Demi broke down in tears. Johnny hugged her tightly.

"You don't have to go back there, Demi. She's not fit to be a mother at the moment, you did the right thing coming here. When did she kick you out?" Johnny asked.

"Two days… ago" Demi said through sobs. "I walked… most of the way." Demi was no longer able to speak and Johnny led her to the sofa. Ava had went into the kitchen to make Demi a drink. Johnny told Demi to stay on the sofa whilst he went and spoke to Ava.

"I can't believe Karen would do this. I mean, I knew she was a heavy drinker but we all thought she was getting better. Ava, is it ok if she stays here, I mean she's got no where else to go, and I can't put her on the streets…"

"Johnny, stop. Of course she can stay here. I know what it's like to have to take on nieces or nephews. It's something you have to do no matter what. You were there for me when I need to give Bradin, Nikki and Derrick a home, now I'm doing the same for you." Ava told him firmly. Johnny hugged her and thanked her before going back to sit with his niece. Ava heard the microwave ding and took out the milk she'd heated and started adding cocoa powder and some sugar. Ava joined Johnny and Demi and gave her the drink. A small smile crossed her face when she took it but no words, she was too upset to speak.

"It's fine if you stay here, Demi, for as long as you like. Although I don't know where you're going to sleep…" Johnny hadn't thought about this, but they would make room, he was willing to do anything for his niece.

"When Jay officially moves out, she can take his room." Ava suggested.

"Great idea. I'll phone him." Johnny said, getting up to get the phone. Ava moved onto the sofa with Demi and put an arm around her.

"Do you want some ice for your eye? Or anything, don't be afraid to ask." Ava said softly. Demi simply looked down and shook her head.

--On the phone--

"Hello."

"Jay, thank God, it's Johnny. Look, something's came up at the house." Johnny said seriously.

"What? Everyone's ok, right?" Jay asked, worried.

"Yeah, well, sort of. Listen, I need to know exactly when you're moving out, you know, officially." Jay laughed a little.

"Trying to get rid of me so soon? Look, I don't know, I don't want to push myself onto Isabelle but that's definitely the way things are heading, pretty soon too, what with the baby and everything."

"Jay, this is serious. My niece has just turned up at the door, my sister's beat her up and kicked her out and we need to know that she'll have a room and everything as soon as possible." Johnny said urgently.

"What? Is she ok? I guess I could talk to Isabelle about moving in sooner, she should understand if I explain everything." Jay said, realising the seriousness of the situation.

"Great, thanks Jay, I owe you one. I better go and see how she's doing. Call me later."

"See you." The call ended with a 'click'. Johnny walked back over to Demi, whose crying seemed to have lessened quite a lot.

"You should have a room to call your own pretty soon, but I'm not quite sure when yet." He told her. She smiled.

"Thanks, Uncle Johnny." she said gratefully. "Is there somewhere I could go get changed, I really want to get out of these clothes." she asked, looking down at herself and the outfit she had been in for the past 2 days. It was starting to look a little scruffy.

"Bradin's still out with Erica so his room should be free, it's that one there." Ava said, indicating to Bradin's room. Demi got up and walked over to the room, picking up her suitcase as she went. She looked down at the silver handle, opened the door and stepped inside. She looked up to see a naked, blonde guy's head and torso whip up to look at her in shock and a pretty, dark haired girl on top of him. Demi let out a high pitched yelp and slammed the door shut, her eyes wide. Ava and Johnny's heads turned immediately when they heard Demi's little scream.

"Oh, God." Ava said putting her head in her hands. "I'm so sorry, Demi." She said as she lifted her head. "Johnny, would you show Demi to our room to get changed whilst I have a word with Bradin." Johnny nodded and took Demi's suitcase for her. She walked over to his door and knocked loudly. "Bradin, get dressed and get out here, now." Ava was mad, it was as if she had been waiting for this moment to come. She went over and sat on the sofa. 2 minutes later, both Bradin and Erika came out of Bradin's room. Erika looked very flushed, so quickly said bye and left. Ava gave Bradin a very serious, disappointed and angry look. He huffed and slumped into an arm chair. "What were you doing?"

"I think you know what was going on." Bradin said sarcastically.

"Bradin, everyone has came home from the beach, everyone is here and you're having sex in the house? I thought you'd learnt your lesson from when this happened with Callie. And there was only me in the house that time." Ava said sternly.

"Alright, I'm sorry, it won't happen again." Bradin said, annoyed.

"Bradin, you said that last time."

"Yeah, and it was a long time ago. I've learnt my lesson this time. And how was I supposed to know someone was going to walk in on us, you're not supposed to come in my room. Who was that, anyway?" Bradin asked, confused.

"Johnny's niece, Demi. Her mom's threw her out and she's not fit to be her mother anymore. She's moving in with us."

"Did you even think to ask us?"

"No, because Demi needed help so we gave her it. Demi is Johnny's niece, he can't leave her on the streets, it's the same as when I took you, Nikki and Derrick in. She can't go back to her mother, did you see the state of her? The poor girls been beaten, thrown out of her house and walked here for two days. So in answer to your question, no, we didn't even think of asking you." Ava said. Bradin couldn't argue with this.

"Where's she going to sleep?"

"She's getting Jay's room when he moves out officially. We don't know what's going to happen in the meantime, though." The two of them sat in silence. Bradin was the one to break it.

"Look, Aunt Ava, I really am sorry about me and Erika." Bradin said truthfully. She smiled at him.

"It's ok, just be more careful next time, I mean, we even have to guests and a new member of the household, there was a number of people who could've walked in on you. And Bradin, I guess I should be apologising too. I'm sorry for giving you such a hard time about Erika, if you two are happy then I should be happy for you, but instead I looked for negative stuff and started penalising you for something silly. So I'm sorry too." Bradin smiled, the last thing he expected his aunt to say was that she was happy for him and his girlfriend, when she was one of the people most against it from the beginning. He got up and hugged her.

"I love you, Aunt Ava."

"Love you too.


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. Original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

A/N: Ok, so all the best fanfics I've read have a new character in, so mine won't be an exception! And thanks for the reviews I've got so far, keep them coming. And don't worry, Grasping Darkness, if this does become DemixBradin, it won't be in the near future, hopefully!

P/S: Friday! Which means it's the weekend, finally, so I'll probably do quite a bit of writing.

New main character: Demi King

Chapter 3

--

It was now 5:30 and Carol, Martha's mom, was right on time to pick her up. Demi was still in Ava and Johnny's room. She said she wanted to be alone for a while. Ava called Bradin, Susannah, Nikki, Cameron and Derrick downstairs into the living room, where she and Johnny already were. They quickly came down and sat to hear the news Ava and Johnny had for them.

"Ok, guys, Johnny's niece, Demi, came earlier. Her mom has beat her up a little and threw her out so she needs a place to live, and we said she can stay here. She's upstairs in mine and Johnny's room. I just wanted to let you all know so be nice when you see her, which of course I know you will." Ava told them.

"How old is she?" Nikki asked.

"She was 17 last month." Johnny said.

"Where's she going to sleep?" Susannah asked.

"She's going to get Jay's room when he moves out. We still need to figure out where she'll be sleeping in the meantime though." Ava said, biting her lip, trying to think of possibilities to fit them all in comfortably until Jay moves out.

"Why don't you use Bradin's old single bed and put it in someone else's room?" Derrick said. Ava and Johnny looked at each other.

"That's not a bad idea." Johnny said, ruffling Derrick's hair. "But whose?"

"Not me." chorused Nikki, Derrick and Susannah. Bradin seemed pretty slow on the uptake.

"Well, Bradin's is the biggest room…" Ava said thoughtfully.

"But there's no room for another bed in there." Bradin protested.

"If we move your double bed from the middle of the room to one side of the room there will be, we just need to put the bedside on the other side so your bed can go right up against the wall." Johnny said.

"Fine." Bradin said, defeated. He knew there was no point arguing, she was definitely in his room now, and besides, it didn't bother him that much anyway, they only had to see each other at night, plus it's temporary.

"Should I bring her down here, so she can meet everyone?" Johnny asked. Ava smiled and nodded, so Johnny set off up the stairs and came sown a minute later with his niece. She stood awkwardly as everyone stared at her, which was what she had expected, but everyone was focussing on her very puffy eye, making her feel quite uncomfortable.

"Everyone, this is Demi. Demi, this is Bradin, who you kind of saw earlier. Nikki, the brains of the family. Derrick, the youngest, Susannah, Ava's best friend and business partner and this is Cam, Nikki's boyfriend." Johnny said, indicating to everyone as he introduced them.

"Hey." She said in a small voice.

"Now, Bradin, come with me, I need some muscles to help me get your old bed." Johnny and Bradin headed for the garage and Ava told Demi to make herself feel at home while she started making dinner.

"Do you want some ice for your eye?" Susannah asked Demi as kindly as she could.

"No thanks, I stopped feeling it this morning, it should go down." Demi replied shyly. Susannah didn't want to push Demi so just smiled and left the matter.

"So Demi, where did you used to live?" Nikki asked smiling, trying to start conversation.

"Salt Lake City." Demi replied.

"And you walked all the way here? You must me knackered!" Cam exclaimed. Demi laughed.

"I've had a bit of a sleep since getting here, not much though, couldn't really sleep." Demi said, becoming quieter as she spoke.

"Don't worry, I was like that when I first moved here." Nikki said reassuringly. "You'll soon get used to it." Bradin and Johnny came through the living room minutes later and the bed was put into Bradin's room. Ava put some bed sheets in the washing machine so they were good for Demi to use.

--4 hours later--

It was now 9:45 at night. Demi had thanked Ava and Johnny once again for everything they were doing and pulled out a pair of pyjamas, grey and purple _Little Miss Naughty_ pyjamas, a pair of shorts and a small tank top. She pulled off her clothes and was standing in her knickers and bra, opening her shorts to step into them, and the door swung open. Demi screamed and tried to cover herself as much she could, and she only really had her hands, and Bradin stood and gawped. After a moment Bradin broke free from shock and closed the door. Demi put the rest of her clothes on as fast as she could. She climbed into her bead and put her head on the pillow. A minute later and there was a knock at the door.

"Are you decent?" Bradin asked awkwardly.

"Yeah." She called back, flushing slightly.

"Sorry about, you know, walking in." Bradin said quickly, avoiding looking at her in the eyes.

"It's ok. Sorry about earlier, you know, walking in." She said, also avoiding eye contact. He shook his head to show it didn't matter. "Guess we're even, then." Demi laughed. Bradin smiled and laughed too before crawling into bed and falling asleep almost straight away.

--Next morning--

Ava and Susannah were downstairs in the kitchen, each of them holding onto a cup of coffee like it was a lifeline. Derrick was in the garden on his skateboard and everyone else seemed to be asleep. Ava and Susannah talked about the new collection, desperately racking their brains for ideas. Just as Susannah opened her mouth to say an idea, there was a knock on the door. She got up and answered and found Colby standing at the door.

"Come in." she said jokingly with a small curtsy.

"Do either of you beautiful and talented ladies have ideas for the new collection? Because as soon as you do, I can get business done." He said smiling.

"Sadly, no." Ava said returning the smile and taking another

sip from her cup. "I haven't had much time to just sit down and draw what with everything that's been happening round here lately."

"Details." Colby said as girlishly as he could.

"There's a new addition to the family." Susannah told him. "Johnny's niece, Demi. She's asleep at the moment." She continued, in answer to the confused look on Colby's face.

"Yeah, her mom kicked her out. She's a bit of an alcoholic and druggie so she wasn't fit to be her mother. I'm still getting used to it, it feels so weird. In only a matter of hours a girl has showed up on our doorstep and is now officially living here. I just feel so bad for her, though. I mean, she walked for two days to get here, she must've been exhausted." Ava said thoughtfully, looking blankly down into space.

"I hate to be a mood killer, but I need the two of you upstairs to help me. Ava Gregory, go work your magic and design something fabulous." Colby told her.

"You two go, I'll come up once everyone's awake." Ava said, sitting down onto one of the stools. She sat there for about 5 minutes after Susannah and Colby had went upstairs thinking, when Bradin walked came to the kitchen for his breakfast.

"Morning, sweetie." Ava said, smiling.

"Morning." He said as he fished a bowl out of the cupboard.

"Was everything ok last night? With you and Demi in the same room? Is she ok?" Ava asked.

"Yeah, we both went straight to sleep. But I'm sure I heard her crying in the middle of the night, but I fell back to sleep." Ava looked over at the closed door to their room as Bradin said this, concerned.

"So… what are you planning on doing today?" Ava quizzed him.

"I haven't made any plans yet." He said, pouring milk onto his cereal and getting a spoon. They sat quietly for a while until Nikki came downstairs and started telling them both about the work she was doing for the school journalism club. It wasn't long before Derrick had came in bored from being on his skateboard so long and the Nikki/Derrick argument for control of the TV started again.

--In Bradin's and Demi's room--

'_What are you up to?__'__ Demi__'__s friend, Alex, had typed over MSN._

'_Not much, mom__'__s out again. Don__'__t know when she__'__ll be back.__'__ Demi replied. Knots were forming in her stomach, she was dreading her mother coming home. She knew she__'__d have to make an excuse to sign out soon so she could pretend to be asleep when her mom got in._

'_OMG! Guess what I just heard?__'__ Alex wrote._

'_What?__'__ Demi replied with a shock face, not really interested at all._

'_Laura Hudson__'__s broke her leg at cheerleading practice!!__'__ Alex replied with 3 shock faces. A smile broke out on Demi__'__s face. She__'__s hated Laura since forever and this was definitely something to cheer her up._

'_Serves her right. Can you believe the rumour she was spreading about Hannah. She__'__s a total bitch, everyone hates her but she loves herself because she__'__s a __'__popular__'__. Alex, you__'__ve just made my day.__'__ She messaged back with 2 grinning faces. Before either of them knew it, they were typing animatedly about all the girls they hate and telling each other the gossip they__'__d heard recently. Just as Demi was about to tell Alex about what had happened to Molly in chemistry class, she heard a slam of the front door. Her heart raced. __'__Gotta go__'__ she quickly typed and signed out. She tried to shut down the computer as fast as she could. __'__Stupid computer!__'__ She thought to herself, __'__Why did you have to pick today to freeze!__'__. She was running out of time. She held in the power button for 5 seconds and the screen blanked. She got up and pulled the covers of her bad back. __'__SLAM.__'__ Her door had hit the wall and her mom stood there, looking terrible as she often did these days. Demi__'__s heart pounded, threatening to break free from her chest. Her eyes widened as she looked at her mother, standing in the doorway with a bottle of vodka in one hand, half empty._

"_What are you looking at your own mother like that for?__"__ she spat evilly._

"_I__'__m__…__ I__'__m just going to bed.__"__ She__'__d tried her best to sound natural, but fear could be heard in every word._

"_What__'__s wrong with you!? Are you going to start crying!?__"__ Demi__'__s mom had walked right up to her now and was shouting in her face. Her breath smelt awful, Demi didn__'__t want to know the concoction of alcohol and drugs that she had taken. Demi said nothing, but couldn__'__t stop a tear from rolling down her right cheek. __"__ANSWER ME!!__"__ She__'__d lost it. She slapped Demi across the face and pushed her onto the bed, before violently punching her, scratching her, kneeing her when she could. Demi begged and begged for her to stop through heavy sobs, but there was just no reasoning with her. Demi took a blow to her eye, she screamed in pain. _

Demi sat bolt upright screaming, her face sparkling wet with tears. It was a moment before she realised she was sat in a bed and that it had been a dream, then she noticed Bradin looking at her, sat on the end of her bed. Here chest rose and fell rapidly. She wiped her face with the back of her hands.

"You ok?" Bradin asked, moving further up the bed, sitting a little in front of her. She wrapped her arms round his neck and broke down sobbing.


	4. Chapter 4

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. Original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

A/N: Ok, so this isn't the greatest chapter, but I don't think it's too bad. Hope you like it though!

Chapter 4:

--

Everyone was now awake, and Bradin had led Demi out into the kitchen for breakfast once she cleaned herself up a little. Of course, Ava had heard the screaming but had decided not to say anything.

"So, Demi, what do you want to do today? We can do anything you want, since you've got the whole summer holidays to enjoy." Johnny said as cheerfully as he could.

"I just think I'll check out Playa Linda today, Uncle Johnny." Demi replied, spooning cereal into her mouth greedily. She hadn't wanted to mention her hunger yesterday, she didn't want to feel cheekier than she already did.

"Great! That can be arranged, starting with Mona's sandbar. And call me Johnny, Demi." Johnny said happily. Demi smiled and nodded, then continued to wolf down her cereal.

--2 hours later--

Johnny and Demi were walking through the streets of Playa Linda, heading for Mona's sandbar. Demi had gotten changed into a pink halter neck top with white shorts, and Johnny was wearing jeans and one of his infamous blue shirts. They walked mostly in silence, with Johnny occasionally telling Demi that they weren't far now and that they were just a minute away. Finally they got there.

"Here she is!" Johnny said proudly.

"It's nice." Demi said, looking up at the bar before she and Johnny headed inside.

"Yup, this is my baby. Had her for about a year now." Johnny said patting the wooden bar.

"Well, _she__'__s_ looking very good." Demi said with a giggle. "Johnny, why is it called Mona's sandbar? Is that what it was called before you owned it?"

"No, I shared it with a girl named Mona. She was special, alright, but she died in a car accident. We were kind of more than just friends when she died, but she'd given her half of the ownership over to me just before she died. I thought it was only right to name it after her." Johnny said reminiscently.

"I'm sorry." Demi said, sadly.

"It's ok. Hey, do you want a drink? Anything you want, except alcohol." Johnny laughed. They both ended up getting coke and sat down at the bar talking.

"Demi, what exactly happened with you and your mom?" Johnny asked seriously. Demi looked down at the drink in her hands for a few moments.

"I was on the computer talking to my friend. I was going to go to bed and pretend to be asleep when she got in, but I got carried away with the conversation. Then she came barging into my room and asked me what I was looking at and if I was scared of my own mother, then… she just slapped me and it escalated from there." Demi said in a quiet voice. The words stung her but she managed not to cry.

"How did you get out of there?" Johnny asked curiously.

"_Mom, STOP!__"__ Demi screamed. She curled her legs up to her stomach and kicked out as hard as she could. Her mother doubled over in pain and fell backwards, hitting her head off the corner of Demi__'__s drawers. She lay on the floor, not moving a muscle. Demi gasped, unable to speak. What had she done? She slowly went over to her mother, scared that she was really still awake and ready to attack. She looked at her mothers face. Her eyes were closed. She could see her chest rising and falling very slowly. Demi breathed a small sigh of relief._

"Demi?" Johnny said, waving his hand in front of her face.

"Huh? Oh, I kicked her off me and she hit her head, but she was ok, just knocked out. I got my suitcase from under my bed and filled it with as much stuff as I could. Then I ran." Demi said, strangely unemotional to how she'd been on the subject before.

"You had a nightmare about it last night, didn't you?" Johnny asked. "I heard you crying and screaming." Demi looked down, flushing slightly and nodded.

"Did you leave her a note or anything? You know, to say where you went." Johnny questioned further. Demi shook her head.

"I don't want her to find me. I don't want to go back there." Demi said a little angrily.

"Of course you don't, I know, but she's going to have to find out eventually." Johnny told her.

"No she doesn't." Demi protested. "I'm old enough to move out anyway. And even if she does have to know, I don't want her to know yet." She gripped her glass more tightly, words could not describe how frustrated she was with her mother.

"Ok." Johnny said simply. Demi looked up at him. She had expected to get a mini lecture on how she's still her mother and loves her, etc, etc. She smiled at him. One of the reasons Johnny was her favourite uncle is because he's so understanding. She hugged him for a few seconds and thanked him.

Demi told Johnny there was no where else she really wanted to go, although she said she might go down to the beach later, so they returned home. Getting bored, Demi went into hers and Bradin's room and fished her favourite book out of her suitcase then sat on her bed and read it. She had been reading for about ten minutes when two people came through the door leading outside. Bradin and Erika were attached at the lips, both so consumed in each other that neither one of them noticed Demi. Bradin lowered Erika over his bed and she hung on to him with her arms around his neck. Demi flushed bright red, not knowing what to say.

"… Bradin…" She said, hoping she'd said it loud enough for him to hear. His head shot up to see Demi half laying, half sitting on her bed.

"Oh, God, sorry." Bradin said, flushing just as red as she was. "… Erika, this is Demi, Johnny's niece. She moved in with us yesterday. She's staying in here until Jay moves out of his room."

"Hey." Erika said, slightly embarrassed. The atmosphere could be cut with a knife.

"I'll just… go and read in the living room." Demi said awkwardly and left the room. She could still feel her cheeks burning slightly. As soon as she got into the living room she realised she was going to have no such luck reading her book with the noise, so went out the back and followed the path down to the beach, where she soon found some rocks she could sit on and read the book.

--Upstairs in the house--

"There! I've done it! Susannah, Colby, what do you think of this dress?" Ava asked them, holding up the work of art she'd just created.

"Fantastic! Just what we needed! I'll order the fabric right away." Colby said, clapping his hands together.

"It's great!" Susannah told her, admiring the sketch. "And just in time, too, I thought we'd never get something done."

"Right, I'm going to make some coffee, who wants some?" Ava asked.

"Me, please." Susannah and Colby chorused. Ava walked downstairs and saw Bradin and Erika sat together watching TV.

"Do either of you want some coffee?" She asked, trying her best to be happy for them as she told Bradin she would.

"Yes, please." Erika said smiling.

"I'm ok, aunt Ava. Hey, is Demi upstairs?" he asked curiously.

"No, she went into your room when she came in." Ava said, as she got out some mugs.

"She came in here with a book, but then she went out the back." Nikki told them.

"Hmm, she's probably at the beach, nothing really to worry about.

--At the beach--

Demi had been reading her book intensively, when someone shouting caused her to look away for a moment. _Thud._ 'Ouch' Demi thought in her head. She had been hit with such force he was now laying flat on her back and had hit her head off the rock. She rubbed her head where she'd hit it and saw a figure block the light in front of her. She was pulled up by a hand and saw the same person 3 times, all in a row.

"Dizzy…" She said stupidly, finding it hard to sit still and putting her hand to her head.

"Ouch, I didn't realise it hit you that hard." The boy said looking at her. "Where do you live?" He asked her. She looked over to the gate, which wouldn't seem to stay completely still, and pointed. The boy grabbed her free hand and dragged her up. Her head was still reeling and she staggered slightly, and was shocked when her feet were no longer touching the ground. The boy had picked her up and was taking her in the direction of the house.

"I'm fine." She said, rubbing her head. "You don't have to…"

"You can barely walk, and your eye looks terrible, I didn't realise the ball hit you so hard." He said, coming closer to the gate.

"No, you don't understand…" Demi began.

"It's ok, we're here." The boy protested as they were only about ten feet away from the gate. The blow to her head from the ball had given her a migraine and the light in her eyes didn't help.

"I'm fine, my eyes fine." She told him, even though she was covering it to keep the sun out of her eyes, although he thought it was because she was in pain from the ball hitting her. They got up the steps and he knocked on the patio door window. Demi felt so stupid.

"I'm fine, really, you don't have to…" Demi began.

"Demi, what happened?" Bradin asked, opening the door.

"Me and my friends were messing around and the ball hit her. I didn't realise it hit you that hard, though, you might want to put some ice on your eye." He said, returning her to her feet. She fell against Bradin slightly as she steadied herself.

"You don't understand, my eye was already like this." She said finally.

"Oh, sorry. But you still couldn't stand properly so I guess I don't look like a complete prat." He said with a laugh. Demi laughed too.

"I'm Demi."

"Adam. Well, I'll see you around. See you, Bradin." Adam said, and walked off back down the path.

"You two know each other?" Demi asked Bradin as she walked into the kitchen.

"Yeah, I go to school with him." He replied, sitting back down on the sofa alone. Erika had went home.

"What was all that about?" Johnny asked as he came down the stairs.

"I was unnecessarily rescued." Demi said with a laugh. "Hey, do you have any pain killers? I've got a migraine." Johnny went and got her some while she filled him in on what happened in a bit more detail.

P/S: Sorry for not mentioning this earlier but thanks to all of my awesome reviewers! I had put this message on chapter 10 which I've just finished writing, but then I realised it might be a while before you see that! Sorry! So thanks SO much! :) Now click the little button below that say's 'submit review', you know you want to!


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. Original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.

_A/N: Hope you like this chapter! I think it's a bit better than the last one. Please review __J_

Chapter 5

_--_

--2 days later--

Seeing as Demi didn't know anyone except for the others living in the house, Nikki's boyfriend and Adam, she was stuck in the house and was pretty bored. Everyone else was off doing there own thing, so she sat down and tried to find something on TV to watch, but each channel was just as boring as the next. She finally just switched to the music channels and had to watch a series of commercials, threatening to drive her insane. She rolled her eyes as a toothbrush commercial came on, before hearing the front door click. She looked round to see Bradin laughing with someone who she couldn't see yet. She knew it would probably be Erika so turned back round to give them their privacy.

"Hey, Demi." A familiar voice said. She turned round again to see Adam and Bradin walking over to her. "Here, you left this on the beach." He handed her my book.

"Oh, I'd forgotten all about it, thanks." She said, taking the book and smiling up at him. It was the first time she'd been able to get a good look at him. His hair was dark brown and short and he had ocean blue eyes. His arms were slightly muscled. He wore a blue guitar t-shirt with three quarter length tracksuit bottoms. He had tanned skin, although not as dark as hers.

"Hey, we were thinking about going down to the beach, wanna come? We could play volleyball if you want but you'll have to look out for the ball." Adam said grinning.

"Ha ha, very funny. But if it hits me and bruises my arm or something, don't feel like you have to carry me to a hospital." She retorted wittily.

"Ouch, truce?" Adam laughed. She nodded her head.

"I'll just be a minute." She went into hers and Bradin's room and ran a comb through her hair. She looked at her reflection in the mirror. She was wearing another baby tee, a lilac one this time, denim shorts with frayed ends and a pair of white sandals. She rummaged in her make up bag and put on some mascara and lip gloss then decided she was ready to go.

"Ready?" Bradin asked when she re-entered the living room.

"Yeah lets go." She said and followed them out the patio doors.

"So, are you two like cousins or something?" Adam asked.

"No, she's Johnny's niece." Bradin answered.

"What are you doing in Playa Linda then, visiting?" Adam continued.

"There's a few problems at home, so I'm moving in here." Demi told him.

"Cool, so will we see you at school after the holidays? How old are you?" Adam quizzed.

"17, you're in luck." Demi said jokingly. "So, what do you guys wanna do?" she asked when they got their.

"How about surfing?" Adam suggested.

"Yeah, that's cool with me. Demi?" Bradin asked. It's not like Demi hadn't always wanted to learn to surf, she'd just never got round to doing it.

"Well… I…" She began.

"You can't surf, can you?" Adam said smirking. She shook her head.

"I've wanted to learn, but I just never did." she admitted.

"Hey, Bradin's the best surfer our teams ever had, and I'm pretty good myself, I'm sure we could teach you to at least stand up on a board." Adam said, sounding slightly big headed in Demi's opinion but she was happy to learn.

"But I don't have a board."

"We could take turns using the boards." he suggested. Demi smiled.

"Ok. I'll go get changed and you two go get your boards."

Ten minutes later and Demi had turned into a classic Playa Linda girl. She was wearing a deep pink bikini top and the bottoms were covered by her shorts. Bradin and Adam had both put some wet suits in a backpack and had got their boards. Demi stuffed some towels into the backpack, too, and they set off for the beach again.

"Ok, so all you have to do is paddle and look back at the wave. Right when it's about to come, pop up onto the board." Bradin prepped her. Demi was just praying she wouldn't look like an idiot and fall off. Once they'd found a spot on the beach and Demi had put a few towels down, the guys got into their wetsuits and Demi took off her shorts. She felt a mixture of nerves and excitement as they walked into the sea. Although fading, bruises were still visible up and down Demi's body, mostly on her arms. She was beautiful, slim and slender, but Bradin and Adam's eyes weren't drawn to that. Adam opened his mouth to say something, before he saw the look Bradin gave him, shaking his head. The three of them paddled out and Bradin said he'd go first to show Demi how it's done. Demi and Adam both had their arms on Adam's surfboard, holding them afloat.

"Look at the wave behind him." Adam said, pointing. "You need to wait until it's _just _close enough, then… pop up on the board!" He said as Bradin popped up. "Do you want to go next? Or do you want me to?" Bradin began paddling back to them.

"You go, I'll watch you once then try it myself." She replied. They waited until Bradin had completely paddled back in so Demi had something else to hold her afloat before Adam set off. Again, Demi watched and had Bradin teaching her this time. She watched as Adam let the wave carry him ashore.

"Here." Bradin said, reaching down to his ankle and pulling the strap off. "Put this on." She took it from him and fastened it securely to her ankle. She hauled herself onto the board and paddled away from Bradin and Adam. The mixture of excitement and nerves she had felt in her stomach earlier were starting to be taken over by the nerves. She took a deep breath and began to paddle. She looked behind her and saw a wave building. She gulped but paddled further, her heart rate gradually getting faster as the wave got closer. It was coming a lot closer. When was the right time to pop up on the board? It seemed a lot harder to judge when you're looking back at the wave instead of observing from the side. It felt dangerously close now. Demi crouched down then popped up, trying to imitate exactly how Bradin and Adam had done it. 'Popping up' hadn't quite gone to plan, as she simply fell off the board onto her back. 'Ouch!' She thought, rubbing her back, feeling as if she'd just been slammed down onto concrete. She got back on the board and paddled back to the guys.

"That wasn't bad for a first attempt." Adam told her when she reached them.

"Thanks for trying to make me feel better but we all know I sucked." She said with a little laugh, still rubbing her back.

"Ouch, falling backwards in just a bikini, that's gotta hurt." Adam said.

"No, it tickled." Demi said sarcastically, then receiving a face full of water. Demi took off the ankle strap and gave it back to Bradin, who attached it and paddled off. Demi and Adam both held onto Adam's board, watching Bradin surf. Demi looked over at Adam, and caught sight of him looking at the bruises on her arm.

"It's nothing." Demi said quickly and started rubbing her arm.

"Come on, Demi, that's not nothing." he said sympathetically. "It explains your eye, though."

"They're just bruises, they'll heal." Demi told him, starting to feel very self-conscious about her arms.

"Who did that to you? You can't just let that happen to you." He said caringly.

"I know, and I'm not, that's why I moved in with Uncle Johnny. I just have to ignore the bruises then that part of my life will be gone forever, ok?" Demi said. She had taken her arms off the board now and was holding on with her fingers, hiding as much of her arms as she could under water. Adam decided against asking her again, no matter how curious he was.

After eight more failed attempts to stay up on the board, Demi had decided to give up for the day and try again tomorrow, so they swam back to the shore and Demi handed them a towel each.

"You're getting better, you stood up on the board those last few times." Bradin told her, encouragingly.

"Yeah, and I fell off moments later." she laughed.

"You'll soon get used to it." he replied. "You're learning pretty quick."

"I've gotta get back home for dinner, but I'll see you two tomorrow, ok?" Adam told them.

"Bye." Demi said, smiling. She and Bradin re-packed the backpack they brought then headed back into the house. Demi kept rubbing her arms timidly as they walked back.

"You ok?" Bradin asked curiously after watching her do this all the way from the beach to the gate.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"You keep rubbing your arms, like your trying to hide them or something." Bradin asked, furrowing his eyebrows slightly and looking a bit confused.

"I'm just a bit cold." She lied. Bradin didn't believe her but dropped the subject anyway as they were home now. "I'm going to get changed so don't walk in again." She joked as she walked over to their room. She took off her wet bikini and soon emerged from the room wearing jeans and a long sleeved purple top. "What's for dinner?" She asked Ava as she entered the kitchen.

"I was thinking we'd order in a pizza." Ava said, turning round to look at her. "Why are you wearing sleeved tops in summer." Ava chuckled.

"I've just been surfing, I was a bit cold." She lied again.

"I didn't know you surfed." Ava said.

"I don't, Bradin and Adam were teaching me, and I'm not very good." Demi chuckled.

"You'll soon get better, especially with Bradin teaching you." Ava said, smiling at him as he, too, came over into the kitchen.

"Hey, everybody." An all too familiar voice said from the patio doors. "I have good news." He said, coming across the room into the kitchen. "Isabelle said I could move in with her! You must be Demi." Jay said when he saw her and shook her hand. She nodded and smiled at him.

"Demi, this is Jay, and apparently you've got your own room now." Ava said smiling.

"That's great!" She said cheerfully.

"I've just gotta move all my stuff out so you can move in. Bradin, Demi, would you mind helping me?" Jay asked, and soon the room had been stripped of every last thing Jay owned. Ava took the bed sheets to be cleaned and got an old duvet cover of hers from the cupboard upstairs to be put on so it was more girly. Whilst Jay and Bradin moved Bradin's old bed back into the garage, Demi started to finally unpack her suitcase. She hadn't been able to bring too much with her in her suitcase, but it was quite big and fit most of her necessities and even a few luxuries in, so she had enough to feel at home. The wardrobe was half filled with clothes and the random things were put into drawers. She decided she'd use the money she had saved up in her bank to buy some new clothes and replace things she'd left at home if she couldn't get them back. She was planning on asking Johnny if she could go back for them, she knew the times when her mother would be out and she'd brought a key with her.

"Here's the bed sheets." Ava said, smiling, as she came into the room. "We could go to the shop tomorrow and but some paint, if you want." She offered.

"Yeah, that'd be great, thanks." She said, hugging her. "Thanks so much for everything, Ava."

"Don't worry about it." Ava told her, hugging her back.

"Ava, do you think Uncle Johnny would take me back to my house to get the rest of my stuff?" She asked curiously.

"Honey, that might be dangerous, your mom's probably wondering where you are, what if she's there?" Ava said, worried.

"I know exactly what times she goes out, and she needs to drink and take drugs, she's dependant on them now, so I doubt she'll stay in the house just for me." Demi said factually but sadly.

"Maybe. But I think if Johnny does say yes, me and Jay should come too, just in case." Ava told her, putting a piece of hair behind her ear. A smile broke across Demi's face.

"Thanks, Ava." She said, hugging her again.

"Hey! It's only if Johnny says yes." Ava laughed, but returned the hug all the same.

"If Johnny says yes to what?" Johnny asked, popping his head round the door. Ava and Demi broke apart and Demi smiled sweetly at Johnny.

"Uncle Johnny, I have something to ask you…"


	6. Chapter 6

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. Original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

A/N: Ok, so this isn't the greatest chapter, but I don't think it's too bad. Hope you like it though! Also, I don't know how far Salt Lake City is from Playa Linda, so lets just say a couple of hours in the car, since it took Demi 2 days to walk there.

Chapter 6:

--

It had been 2 hours since Demi asked Johnny if they could go back to her house and of course he had said yes to his favourite niece. He'd even said that they could go that night, to get everything over and done with, so Demi, Johnny, Ava and Jay piled into Johnny's car and set off to Salt Lake City. They talked about Jay and Isabelle, their plans for the baby, whether they'd thought of names and what sex they wanted it to be. They talked about the fashion line and whatever was going on at home, but Demi didn't join in as much as everyone else in the conversation. She would never admit it, but she was actually scared her mom would be at the house, waiting for her, ready to attack again.

After a few hours drive, which felt more like an eternity to Demi, they pulled up across the street from Demi's house. Demi took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, before getting out of the car and walking with everyone else to the house. It was late at night and there were no lights on in the house, which was a good sign. They had brought a few boxes with them to fill with Demi's possessions. She let Johnny and Jay lead the way into the house, hanging back a bit with Ava. Johnny opened the door quietly using the key Demi gave him. He and Jay scoped the house out before telling Demi and Ava that no one was in and heading upstairs to Demi's room. Her bed was still messy and creased from where she'd been attacked, Demi tried her best not to look at it as she felt tears prickle her eyes. The empty bottle of vodka was still on the floor from where had mother had fell.

"Grab anything you think I'll need." Demi said, trying to disguise the fear in her voice, praying she didn't tremble when she spoke.

Ava got to work emptying her wardrobe into a big plastic box, then emptying out the knickers and socks drawers beneath. Johnny started putting a small collection of books from Demi's bedside table into a box, clearly her favourites as the spines of the were wrinkled with use. Jay grabbed a few photos and rummaged around the computer table for anything Demi might need. Demi started emptying her drawers and shelves of things she thought she'd need, many things being left where they were. The only talking between them was Jay or Johnny asking whether Demi thought she'd need something they'd picked up. Demi put all of her make up into a box she was carrying and threw a small stack of CD's into the box to, along with her iPod and mobile.

"I think that's everything." Demi said, relieved, as she looked round for anything they could've missed, but it seemed she'd got everything. "Oh, just one thing." Demi lifted her mattress up and extracted her purse. "Had to hide it from mom." She explained, though she wasn't sure an explanation was necessary.

"Ok, lets go, but quietly." Johnny instructed. They got out of the house and quickly relocked the door.

"What are you doing in my house?" Everyone jumped and turned around to see a staggering woman, her eyes furious, her hair like rats tails, sticking out in all directions. She looked crazy. Demi's heart rate increased tenfold.

"Karen." Johnny said, shocked.

"I should have known she'd go to you, her favourite uncle. You kidnapper." Karen spat at him.

"Demi came to us because you need help, you're not fit to be her mother. Don't you remember how you felt when mom came home drunk and beat us? You can't do this to your daughter!"

"How dare you tell me how to raise my own daughter!!" Karen yelled, slurring over her words slightly. Demi was shaking.

"Karen, no ones telling you to do anything. We just think you need professional help. At least do it for your daughter, have you seen how scared she is? No daughter should be scared of her mother." Ava said when she saw Demi shaking.

"That's exactly what I told her. I asked her if she was scared, scared of her own MOM!! You stupid little bitch." Karen snarled, walking closer to Demi. Tears were rolling down her cheeks but she was determined not to sob, not to show weakness. "You have the nerve to runaway from your own mother. Well let me tell you something, Demi. I have NEVER loved you. I wish you'd never been born. I wish I'd gotten an abortion when I could, but no, I kept you. And look at how you repay me. I have NEVER LOVED YOU!!" Karen lunged towards her daughter. Demi let out a high pitched scream as a hand snatched at her hair, puling out a small handful. Demi fell to the floor, crying, as Johnny and Jay grabbed Karen and restrained her. Ava rushed to help Demi up and they quickly ran to the car together, shoving the boxes the had into the boot and getting Jay's and Johnny's while they fought to keep Karen under control.

"Johnny, Jay, get in the car!" Ava shouted out the window after she started the car and the engine roared. Karen was on the floor, screaming wildly and telling Jay and Johnny to get off her. They quickly let go of her and ran to the car. Johnny got in the front with Ava and Jay got in the back with Demi. Karen had gotten up and was staggering towards the car, barely able to walk, but by the time she'd gotten to her feet and taken a few steps, the tyres had screeched and the car was out of the street.

"You ok, kiddo?" Jay asked Demi, panting slightly. Demi put her head in her hands and broke down crying.

A few hours later and the car parked up in the drive. Everyone grabbed a box each and piled them up in Demi's room to be unpacked. Only Bradin and Susannah were still up and looked extremely curious when they saw an extremely wet and tearstained face belonging to Demi walk through the door.

"Goodnight." Johnny said to her quietly and sympathetically. "See you in the morning." And she was left alone in the room. She looked at the boxes on the floor. Sticking out of the one nearest to her was a soft, brown teddy bear, one that she had received when she was 6 off her favourite uncle, and had kept for years and years, doing her best to keep him in good condition and she would hold onto him whenever she cried. She gently picked up the bear and held it in her hands. She smiled a sad smile and went and sat cross legged on her bed, before heavy tears came to her eyes and she let them flow, snuggling the teddy into her. She looked like a 4 year old but she really didn't care. She didn't sob, just cried as she hugged the bear.

Bradin put his ear to Demi's door. Not a sound could be heard. He wondered whether she'd fell asleep already, though it was doubtful. He opened the door and looked in, to see Demi cross legged on the bed, hugging a teddy bear and crying.

"Oh, I'm sorry." He said, awkwardly, leaving the room.

"No, it's ok, you can come in." Demi said, putting the teddy down at the end of her bed.

"Ok… are you ok?" Bradin asked, feeling stupid, seeing from her face that she'd obviously been crying, and hadn't completely stopped yet either.

"Actually, I kind of am. It's weird. I'm crying my eyes out and my moms just came and caught us, it got so bad Johnny and Jay had to pull her away from me and restrain her, yet I'm ok." Demi said, half confused, half happy.

"Maybe it's because you're just happy to be away from her." Bradin suggested. Demi considered this, then nodded her head slightly.

"Yeah, I'm definitely glad to be away from her. And I'm glad that I've got a lot of my stuff back. But there's something more than that, it's like, that part of my life is gone forever, like a part of me is missing and I don't know how to feel about it. I feel… lighter." Demi said, then laughed at how weird she sounded. Bradin laughed at this, too. "Ok, that was corny, but I mean it. It's like, when you lose someone you love you feel like there's a piece of you missing, like a hole or whatever, and this is kind of the same, except my life just got better, not worse, and it just feels… weird, different to losing someone, it's like I can't even describe the feeling because there's no name for it."

"So you think you'll be ok?" Bradin said with a smile. Demi nodded.

"Definitely." she replied. "Thanks, Bradin." She hadn't really realised until just that second how much of a good friend Bradin was, and how grateful she was to him.

P/S Sorry that it's so short but another chapter will be up ASAP, hopefully before you read this!


	7. Chapter 7

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. Original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

A/N: You know the drill, review please!!

Chapter 7:

--

The next few weeks flew by and before anyone knew it there was only 3 days before school started again. Bradin was finally going into his senior year, Nikki was going into her freshman year and Derrick into the 7th grade. Demi would also be joining Bradin in going into the senior year and was dreading the whole 'first day at a new school' thing. She wondered whether she'd stick with Bradin and Adam in school or if they'd ignore her and hang out with their friends. She wondered whether she'd be in classes with Bradin or Adam, or if she'd be on her own with a bunch of strangers. She tried not to think about it, although sometimes she couldn't help it, so that the nerves wouldn't be as bad when the big day came.

"Wow, this sucks." Demi heard Bradin say, coming into the living room.

"What sucks?" She said, chewing on half a mouth full of cereal.

"This." He said, holding up a letter. "There's one for you, too."

"Timetables." Demi said once she'd opened hers. "English, maths, biology, physics, chemistry, history," She said, reading out a few. "of course they suck, they're lessons, aren't they, they're not supposed to be fun."

"Of course that's what you'd say, but if you actually knew the teachers you're getting, you'd fully appreciate how much this sucks." Bradin told her, putting his timetable down and pouring himself a glass of orange juice. Demi picked Bradin's up and compared lessons. Luckily, she did have some lessons with him, but not all. They were both in the same class for history, English, biology and Spanish, but no other lessons, which sucked for Demi, unless Adam was in some of her other lessons.

"Hey Nikki." Demi said smiling, as she came downstairs and walked towards the kitchen. "Timetables are here." Nikki's eyes widened.

"Gimme!" She said urgently. Her eyes quickly whizzed left and right as she studied her timetable, then began to harass Bradin about the teachers and which ones she should avoid, etc.

"To be honest with you, Nik, you're going to be a brainy little goody two-shoes, so there aren't really any teachers who you have to avoid, unless you suck at PE, because your brain won't help you there." He told her, which Nikki retaliated to by playfully hitting him.

"Stop it, you two." Ava told them, seeing a fight coming, even if it was playful. After breakfast everyone went to get dressed as they had done everyday. Nikki took a little longer than she usually did, and Ava noticed she was wearing makeup when she came down, not much but enough for Ava to notice.

"I'm going to meet Cameron down at the beach." Nikki said as she walked out the patio doors.

(A/N: As I said in my summary, I don't want the story to be focussing on just a few characters as it has so far, so I'm going to add a little of Nikki into it.)

As she walked down the steps leading to the beach, she checked her outfit for the umpteenth time, making sure she looked ok. She was wearing a denim miniskirt with slightly tight pink tank top and flip flops. She walked around the same area of the beach for a little while, waiting for Cam to come.

"Boo!" Nikki let out a scream. Cam laughed from behind her.

"Cam, you scared me!" She said, hitting him playfully on the arm before kissing him. "I missed you so much." She told him when they broke apart. "It felt like you were at your mom's forever."

"I missed you, too." He said, grinning, then leaning in and giving her another kiss, a shorter one this time.

"Nervous about starting high school?" Nikki asked him as they walked down the beach, intertwined at the hands.

"Yeah, I can't believe we're actually leaving middle school. And I can't believe we're gunna be in high school!" He said, squeezing her hand a little. "It's all going by so fast."

"I know what you mean. It's kinda scary how it's going so fast, don't you think?" Nikki asked. He nodded his head.

"But we still have to finish high school first, then it will get really scary." Cam laughed. "But at least we'll be together all through it." Nikki smiled and kissed him, this time longer than she had kissed him earlier, longer than most of the times she'd kissed him before. Cam stared deep into Nikki's eyes when they broke apart, thinking silently to himself the words he wanted to say to her, but didn't have the guts to through fear of freaking her out. _"__I love you, Nikki.__"_This echoed round his head a few times before he snapped out of it and grabbed her hand again, and led her to the rocks so they could sit down.

"You seem a bit different lately, Cam." Nikki told him once they were sat down. "Not in a bad way, though, just different, in a good way, I guess."

"I'm just really happy to see you, I really, really missed you while I was at my moms." He told her. She smiled at him, thinking that she must have the greatest boyfriend in the world, before she kissed him again. But Cam kissed her differently. He kissed her slower, put one hand on her waist, and another on the back of her neck. It felt like it meant so much more, both of them enjoyed every second, hungering for more of each others lips. They kissed more passionately. Cam moved his hand from the back of Nikki's neck, where it had been stroking her hair, down to her waist, where Nikki thought it would stop, but instead moved onto her thigh. Nikki had both her hands around Cam's neck, softly brushing against his hair, willing him to kiss her more. Nikki felt Cam's hand slowly move up her thigh. She ended the kiss. She loved it, but was afraid of taking it too far.

"You're an amazing kisser." She whispered, giving him a final, soft kiss.

"Wanna go see a movie?" Cam offered. "My treat." Nikki nodded her head, and was soon running off down the beach hand in hand with Cam again.

--Back at the house--

"Where are you going?" Johnny asked, stopping his niece as she was about to walk out the door.

"Shopping." Demi said simply.

"What for?"

"School stuff, I've gotta get pens and pencils and everything, but I need to get new clothes, too, and shoes and a bag." Demi said, listing them off the top of her head.

"Here." Johnny said, reaching into his pocket and giving her 70.

"No, it's fine, I've got money." Demi protested.

"I'm not letting you pay for all that on your own, Demi, take the money." He said, physically putting it in her hands.

"Thanks, Johnny." She said, then set off out the door.

--In town--

In Demi's hand were bags with school supplies. All Demi had left to shop for now was new clothes and shoes. She looked at the shoes on the shelf next to the window. There were high heels, flat shoes, shoes with bows and zips and buckles. In the end Demi got a pair of black shoes with a little heel and a thin bow at the front of each. Plain and simple, just as she wanted. She also got a pair of black trainers and white trainers, both Nike. She paid for them and left the shop and began walking past the shop windows again. Just as she was about to walk into a clothes shop she saw Nikki and Cameron sat on a bench outside the movie theatre. They were kissing, something that Demi was very used to after seeing them so many times throughout the summer, but it was definitely more passionate than their usual soft, sweet kisses. Demi couldn't be entirely sure from the distance she was stood from them, but she was sure she could see a hint of uncertainty in Nikki's face. Not wanting to interrupt, she shrugged it off the time being.

--At the house--

Demi set all her bags down on her bedroom floor, kicked off her shoes and collapsed on her bed, feet aching slightly. Her rest was cut short by a knock on the door, which she first ignored, expecting someone else to get it, but got up with a groan and yelled 'coming!' the second time, realising she was home alone.

"Hey, Demi." Adam said once Demi had opened the door. He smiled down at her.

"Hey. Bradin's not here at the moment, I don't think…" Demi said, looking around the room behind her, wondering whether to check his room.

"It's ok. I was just wondering whether you two wanted to come surfing." Demi smiled. She had gradually gotten better as the summer went on, and could now stand on the board and ride a wave. "Are you busy? We could just go if you like."

"Sure." Demi said, ignoring her aching feet. "Come in. Oh! Guess what I got today." Demi fished through one of her bags in her room, Adam standing in the doorway. She pulled out a wetsuit with elbow length arms and knee length legs. The torso was grey, the arms a baby pink and the rest was black.

"Cool. Now maybe it won't hurt as much when you fall off." Adam said, chuckling. She tapped him playfully.

"Do you think Bradin will mind if I use his board?" Demi asked him curiously.

"I don't think so. Come on, lets go!" Adam said smiling, so Demi grabbed a towel, her wetsuit and Bradin's board. They ran down to the beach and were soon in the sea once again. Both Demi and Adam paddled and surfed the wave. It felt great to finally be able to do it without falling off, and Demi grinned from ear to ear. They paddled further out to sea again, resting a little before surfing again.

"I guess you were right." Adam said, looking at her closely.

"What do you mean?" Demi asked, confused.

"You said time will heal the bruises." He said, looking at her injury-free body. Demi smiled a little, not really knowing what to say.

"Yeah… and I was right about the other thing I said." Adam looked slightly puzzled. "That part of my life is gone forever, and now I can move on." She said in response to his look.

"Demi… you don't have to if you don't want to, but… I just wanna know… how did they get there in the first place?" He finally asked. Demi took a deep, slow breath. She hadn't known Adam that long, and hadn't seen him all that much over the holidays, but outside of the house he was one of the only people she knew, and the only one outside of the house that she hung out with.

"My mom's an alcoholic, and a bit of a druggie." She said quietly and sadly. "She'd been out that night, as she always is. I was talking to my friend on MSN and lost track of time, so I couldn't pretend to be asleep when she came in. So when she finally came in… well, you know what happened. I was sick of it, so I came here. And I even went back there not long ago, and we got my stuff." Demi wasn't sure why she was telling Adam this part. "Just as we were leaving the house, she came. She was, well, she was horrible. I always thought that she loved me, and that it was the drugs and drinking that made her do what she does, but she told me herself that she hates me, she wishes I was never born, that she'd gotten an abortion and… she hates me." Tears had started to build up in Demi's eyes, her voice had slowly got quieter, but Adam heard every word. It was the first time she had cried about it since the night it happened. She tried her best to blink back the tears.

"It's ok, she's gone now, you never have to see her again." Adam said, rubbing her arm, trying his best to comfort her. Demi nodded and held her head high. His words had strangely brought more tears to her eyes but she did her best not to let them fall.

"Come on, lets surf." Demi said, trying to keep her voice normal and making her best attempt at a smile. She got on the board and paddled, her worries slowly melting away.


	8. Chapter 8

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. Original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

A/N: Ok, so this one isn't very long, but I like the cliff hanger at the end, something you're going to have to read through a few chapters for. Mwahaha lol.

Chapter 8:

--

Bradin walked in the house with Derrick, whom he'd been acting as a personal taxi to for the day. Bradin didn't mind, though, he was just happy to be back in Derrick's good books after the surfer sponsorship incident. His latest job as a chauffer to Derrick was to pick up Martha and bring them both back to the house.

Bradin walked into the back garden and sat down at the table for a rest, leaving Derrick and Martha in the house. He looked around the garden blankly, before realising something wasn't right. He thought about it for a minute or so before going into the house and asking Derrick.

"Derrick, have you seen my surfboard?" He asked quickly.

"Is it in the garden?" Derrick replied simply.

"If only I thought of that." Bradin said sarcastically, rolling his eyes at Derrick. Moments later Bradin heard two voices coming closer from the back door, both of them laughing. He looked out the back door to see Demi and Adam walking up the stairs into the garden, Demi donning a new wetsuit and Bradin's board. "Oh, you had it." Bradin said.

"What do you mean?" Demi asked, turning on the outside shower.

"I thought someone had took my board."

"Oh yeah, sorry, I didn't think you'd mind."

"It's ok. When did you get the wetsuit?" Bradin asked over the rushing of the shower.

"Today, so I wanted to test it out. Sorry about making you worry. But I'm getting a lot better." She said with a laugh and a smile.

"Where've you been all day?" Adam asked, as Demi moved out of the shower and let him in.

"Driving Derrick everywhere." Bradin said with a little moan. "He's inside with Martha now." Both Bradin and Demi poked their heads round the patio doors quietly to check on them, and saw something they definitely weren't expecting to see. Derrick and Martha were stood about a foot away from each other, their faces coming gradually closer to one another's, their lips puckered and they kissed for about three seconds. Demi and Bradin looked away before Derrick or Martha could realise they'd witnessed the whole thing.

"Aw." Demi said under her breath. Bradin had a large grin on his face, evidently stifling a laugh. "Don't laugh, your little brother just had his first kiss." Demi told him, although a grin was growing on her face, too. Once Adam was finished in the shower, they all made their way into the kitchen. Once Derrick and Martha saw them come in, they quickly scooted a little further away from each other on the sofa and unlinked their hands. The grins Bradin and Demi had just gotten rid of were quickly starting to appear again. Demi tried to hide this by quickly reaching into the refrigerator and getting a bottle of water, pressing it to her lips.

"So, what've you two been up to?" Bradin asked, causing Demi to choke a little on her water before elbowing him in the side as subtly as she could.

"Nothing." Martha said with a nervous giggle.

"We're gunna go play upstairs." Derrick told them, and they quickly left the room.

"Wait until I tell everyone." Bradin said after he'd controlled his laughter.

"Oh, don't, that's horrible." Demi told him.

"Well, I don't get to have any secrets in this house." Bradin said, leaning up against the counter and giving Adam a can of coke and opening one himself.

"Oh, I'm sure there's PLENTY your family don't know."

"Yeah, but they always find out the biggest stuff."

"You've just got Derrick to like you again, remember." Bradin considered this in his head for a moment before answering.

"Fine, I won't tell anyone."

"Won't tell anyone what?" It was Ava, she and Johnny had just gotten home from grocery shopping. Bradin and Demi looked at each other quickly.

"Nothing." They chorused. Johnny raised an eyebrow at both of them but neither of them said anything. Neither Johnny or Ava believed them but decided to drop it for now.

"Would you like to stay for dinner, Adam?" Ava asked him politely.

"Thanks, Miss Gregory, but I'd better be going home now anyway. See you guys later." Adam said as he headed for the door.

"Bye." Bradin and Demi chorused again.

--Later that night--

Ava, Johnny, Bradin, Demi, Nikki, Derrick, Susannah and Jay all sat around the outside dinner table that night. They held hands and said grace before tucking into tonight's dinner, chips and pizza. Everyone was talking their usual dinner time conversation, until Ava directed a question at Bradin and Demi.

"Oh, you two, what was it that you were talking about earlier when Johnny and I walked in?" she asked as casually as she could, eating a chip.

"We already told you, it was nothing." Bradin said. Everyone scoffed at this and asked for the truth. Demi could see a smile playing on Bradin's lips, she could tell he desperately wanted to tell them. She gave him a quick kick under the table as she dug into her pizza. "It was nothing, honest." He told them, although his smirk was quickly growing. Every time he thought about watching them kiss he wanted to burst out laughing.

"Was it about someone in this family?" Ava asked. Everyone looked at Bradin and Demi.

"Yeah." Bradin said, obviously seeing no harm in telling them a little bit about it.

"Shut up, Bradin." Demi said warningly, although a smile was growing on her face as she thought back to the kiss.

"Well, whatever it was, it must've been funny since you both can't stop smiling." Johnny said. Bradin and Demi looked up at each other and both started laughing, neither one of them could help it.

"Really, it's nothing." Demi said once she'd stopped laughing, but continued to smile. Everyone persisted asking, even Derrick who was oblivious to the fact the secret was about him.

"I'm just going to put my plate away." Nikki told everyone with a mischievous smile on her face, exchanging a glance with her aunt. She took her plate out and made her way back to the table, where everyone continued to ask. Just as Bradin was about to say 'I'm not telling you!', Nikki came up behind him, using his biggest weakness to try and get the secret out of him. She tickled him, and soon Jay and Derrick had joined in.

"No… please… stop." Bradin said through laughs, but of course they persisted. "Alright! I'll… tell you!" The tickling ceased, though they stayed in position, ready to tickle him again if they didn't get the truth. "Sorry Derrick." Bradin said quickly, causing him to look confused. "Me and Demi… well, we saw… we saw Derrick and Martha kiss earlier." Bradin blurted out. Derrick's face went red as a tomato within seconds. Nobody spoke at first, but silently grinned to themselves, all except for Derrick, who picked up his empty plate and took it to the kitchen sink and started scrubbing it clean, happy to be away from the table.

"Well this is awkward." Demi said quietly, causing everyone at the table to start sniggering. They heard a Derrick's door slam in the distance and all let out a quiet laugh. No one spoke about it afterwards and eventually everyone had left the table to go off and do their own thing.

--Later that night--

Demi lay awake in her bed. She looked at the alarm clock. 11:58. She was exhausted, but could get to sleep. She felt so guilty about everyone finding out about Derrick's secret earlier, but something else was playing on her mind, something she'd forgotten about recently, something she hadn't even thought about since before her mother had beat her. She tossed and turned in her bed, fed up, trying to forget about her own secret.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. Original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.

_A/N: This chapter leads onto the secret that was the cliff hanger on chapter 8, but you find out the secret at the end of chapter 10! I really like this one and chapter 10, so I hope you do too!_

_Chapter 9:_

_--_

'_Beep-beep! Beep-beep! BEEP-BEEP!__'_Demi groaned as she tried to find the off switch on her alarm, her eyes still closed, still half asleep. It was the first day of school. She got up and dragged herself into the shower, before screaming as the ice cold water hit her skin. She was fully awake now. She waited for the water to heat up before standing under the water again.

Ten minutes later and she was stepping out of the shower again, a towel wrapped around her body, tied next to her armpit, and a towel wrapped in her hair. She went back to her room and dried her hair, then applied her makeup. She dressed herself in the outfit she'd laid out for herself the day before, an old rose coloured organza top and a black skirt and her new black shoes. She filled her new school bag with everything she needed the day before, so picked it up and made her way into the kitchen. Ava had already poured bowls of cereal for them all, so she took one and thanked her, before sitting down to eat it. Nikki came downstairs, dressed in a pink cardigan and a dark skirt.

"Morning." She said happily, picking up a bowl of cereal and getting a spoon out of the cutlery drawer.

"Morning." Demi replied, scooping up the remains of the cereal in her bowl. Soon both Bradin and Derrick had came into the kitchen and eaten their cereal, Derrick hardly saying a word, and piled into Johnny's car, who gave them a ride to school. After dropping Derrick off at Playa Linda Middle School, Johnny dropped Bradin, Demi and Nikki off at their school. Both Demi and Nikki looked up at the tall building in front of them, Playa Linda High School, both about to enter the world of the unknown.

"Cam!" Nikki called, jogging over to him and giving him a quick kiss, which Cam seemed, Demi noticed, reluctant to pull back from so quick. Demi wondered whether Bradin had noticed too, but he had already walked off and joined a group of his surfer friends.

"That's just great." Demi said to herself, standing alone on the sidewalk. She sighed and looked around, but it was pointless. The only people she knew here were Bradin and Adam, who were stood with the surfer crowd, and Nikki, Cameron and Amber, a little bit, and she wasn't going to go stand with freshman's. She pulled out her schedule and saw that her first lesson was English, room 22. She walked to the building, jumping when the bell rang as she reached the door. She scoured the halls, looking at each room number, until finally, she reached room 22. She walked in and sat at a desk, and slowly the room filled. Bradin took a seat on a table at the back of the room.

"You're in my seat." A rather rough looking guy said nastily to Demi.

"Oh, sorry, I…"

"Take my seat." Someone said from behind the boy, in the same tone the boy had used with Demi. It was Adam. They stared at each other for a long moment, before the boy held up his hands in mock defeat. Adam smiled and took the empty seat next to Demi.

"Thanks." She said, smiling and flushing slightly.

"Quiet down everyone, please." Said a rather plump woman with bright blonde, bobbed hair, as she entered the classroom. "Right, good morning, class…"

The hours ticked by slowly, each one taking what felt like forever, and soon it was lunch. This was the part of the day that Demi had been dreading the most, even more so than lessons. She got her lunch and paid, then looked round the noisy hall of people. She knew no one, and everyone was sat in their own little cliques. Sadly, Demi didn't think she fit into any of them. She saw a girl she had sat with in physics class, who she seemed to have gotten along with.

"Erm, can I sit here?" Demi asked timidly, feeling stupid.

"Sure." She said, smiling up at her. There were four other people sat at the table, looking at the newcomer. "Hey, you guys, this is Demi. Ok, this is Shannon, Britney, Hayden and Stacy, and you already know me, Lea." Lea said with a little laugh. Demi was thankful that Lea had said her name, as she had completely forgotten it. Throughout lunch she was bombarded with questions about herself, where she came from, why she moved, etc. As lunch went on Demi found out that Lea and her mates were kind of the popular clique, well, the nice popular clique, the other popular clique were a clique that every school has, which Demi called the plastics. These were the anorexic and bulimic, mean girls. Non of their hair colours were natural and more than half of their body weight was makeup and fake tan. There were four girls in this vicious clique and Demi had decided that she'd try not to cross paths with them.

"Hey, Demi." Adam was walking up to her, and she noticed all of the girls on her table look at her in amazement.

"Hey." She said, smiling at him as he came and crouched down next to her at the table.

"I was just wondering if you got the notes off the board in English." He asked her. The girls exchanged looks behind Demi, who hadn't noticed.

"Yeah, do you want them?" Demi asked as she rummaged through her bag and pulled out her notebook.

"Yeah, thanks. I'll get it back to you tonight. Wanna go surfing again? I've asked Bradin already, he's said yes."

"Yeah, sure." Adam smiled and walked off, putting Demi's notebook in his bag.

"Oh. My. God." Hayden said.

"How the hell do you know Adam Carter? I thought you were new! AND Bradin Westerly? Shut up!" Stacy said excited.

"Yeah, I live with Bradin and go surfing with Adam sometimes, they're both kind of teaching me." Demi said shrugging her shoulders. Obviously the girls thought it was a bigger deal than she did.

"You live with one of the hottest guys in school AND hang out with two of the hottest guys in school. I would kill to be you." Lea said. Demi laughed at this.

"We're just friends." The girls looked at each other when Demi said this, each of them smiling with raised eyebrows. "What?"

"Ok, Adam Carter is one of THE hottest guys in school and he's on the surf team. That usually equals dumb and stupid. But Adam is weirdly one of the smartest in the school, he's one of the sports guys but he also has a head on his shoulders, and he ALWAYS copies up the notes off the board." Britney told her. Demi considered this in her head.

"Well, he probably just forgot today." Demi suggested, shrugging her shoulders again. The girls sighed, shaking their heads, and didn't mention it again. But someone else soon came over to mention it.

"Hey, you're the new girl, right?" Demi turned around to see the leader of the plastics standing behind her. She could smell her coming before she came to the table, her perfume was so strong it almost made Demi's eyes water. She had a ton of makeup on, dangling diamond earrings and a diamond necklace. Her skin was literally orange she was wearing a skirt that could easily pass as a belt and pink polo top, revealing her midriff and huge heels. She smiled at Demi, the lip gloss she was wearing threatening to blind her.

"Yeah, I'm Demi."

"Sure, whatever." The girl said nastily, her smile vanishing in an instant. "I'm Courtney. Since you're new, I'll let you off with a warning, but just so you know, Adam Carter is mine, so don't talk to him again." Demi was taken aback by what Courtney just told her, and why was everyone making such a big deal over her speaking to Adam, they hardly said 5 words to each other!

"You mean you WISH Adam was yours." Lea said, standing up and facing off to her.

"Wait, stop. Who the hell are you to tell me who I can and can't talk to?" Demi spat at Courtney, not going to let herself be pushed around by her, to let herself feel inferior to her as she knew Courtney wanted her to, along with everyone else for that matter.

"Excuse me?" Courtney said, widening her eyes and giving Demi a filthy look.

"I said: who the hell are you to tell me who I can and can't talk to?" By this time everyone in the hall had stopped talking and could here every word. "And FYI, Adam talked to me, it's not my fault he's not giving you the time of day." Courtney looked a her in shock. Demi caught sight of Adam, sitting on a table at the side of the hall, looking up at her in disbelief, as was Bradin who was sat next to him.

"PLEASE tell me that you aren't trying to start a fight with me." Courtney said, flipping her long, bottle blonde hair back.

"I'm not the one who came looking for one." Demi quipped. A small buzz of whispers filled the hall. Courtney's mouth formed a small 'o', before she swung a hand round to slap Demi, which Demi caught and kicked her in the gut. Courtney was doubled over clutching her stomach. Demi grabbed her long blonde locks, half of them were extensions. "Now, are you sure you want to continue this, or are you gunna go and sit back down?" Courtney stood up straight and Demi let go of her hair as she started to walk backwards.

"You do not know how bad you're gunna pay for this." Courtney said, with her signature evil glare, before strutting out of the hall, her clones at her heels. The small buzz of whispers became a roar of voices, and at that moment Demi realised what she'd just done, in front of the whole school. She flushed red and sat back down, quickly picking up her lunch and excusing herself before binning it and leaving the hall of eyes staring at her. She couldn't believe she had the leader of the plastics hating her on her first day.

She got through the rest of the day, willing it to go by faster, receiving daggers in every lesson she shared with Courtney or her clones, which she now decided to call Cling-on's, which made her smile every time she referenced them as a Star Trek character.

She walked home alone and thought about the day she'd had. Surprisingly she didn't really think about her encounter with Courtney, but instead what the girls on the table had said to her before. She wondered whether Adam really had forgotten the notes off the board in English, but convinced herself that he must have.

She walked through the front door, dropped her bag in her room and kicked her shoes off. She walked back into the living room and sat on the sofa. After sitting there for 5 minutes, her eyes threatening to close, she heard the front door slam shut, and looked up to see Bradin walk in.

"My, my, aren't WE full of surprises." Bradin smirked at her.

"Shut up." She said, flinging a cushion off the sofa at him.

"I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm impressed. The only other person I know who'd stand up to Courtney is Lea, and maybe some of her friends sometimes. But you? Didn't see that one coming." Bradin said, sitting next to her.

"She started it. It was pathetic actually. _'__just so you know, Adam Carter is mine, so don__'__t talk to him again__'_." Demi said, putting on a high pitched voice, pulling faces and flipping her hair. Bradin smiled and laughed.

"Well, no surprise there. She's been trying to get with Adam since, well, forever." Bradin said thoughtfully.

"All he asked was whether he could copy my English notes. And I said yes. Then Lea started making a big deal out of it, then Courtney started making a big deal out of it. Uh." Demi said, slightly fed up. Bradin said nothing, he didn't even look at her, he just stared blankly into space, pondering over what she'd said. "Bradin?"

"Huh? Oh sorry, I was just thinking." Demi rolled her eyes.

"So, what time are we going surfing tonight?"

"What?" Bradin asked, confused.

"Surfing? Tonight? You, me and Adam? He asked me when he came over to my table, he said he'd told you."

"Oh, that…" Bradin said, a bit slowly. "Sorry, I have to meet Erika tonight. But you can use my board." Bradin offered.

"Ok. Do you know what time he's coming round?"

"Nah, he'll probably just show up. Anyway, I've got homework I wanna do before I see Erika, see you later" Bradin said, getting up off the sofa.

"Bye." Demi said, before he vanished into his room. Just as Bradin's door closed, the front door opened, and Nikki and Cam walked through, hand in hand.

"Hey." Nikki said, grinning at her.

"Hey… what is it?" Demi said, noticing her grin.

"I heard you got into a fight today." Demi rolled her eyes.

"It wasn't exactly a fight, Nik."

"You kicked her though, didn't you?" Nikki inquired.

"Yeah, but that's it, the rest was just a war of words, nothing more."

"But she tried to slap you, didn't she? And you kicked her and grabbed her hair…"

"Where do you find all this out?" Demi asked, puzzled.

"Word travels." Cam said, shrugging and speaking up for the first time.

"Apparently." Demi said, getting up off the sofa. "Well, I'm gunna go do my homework before I go surfing, see you guys later."


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. Original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.

_A/N: A nice long one, woo! Read on to find out Demi's big secret. Review please!_

_Chapter 10:_

_--_

Just as Demi finished her physics homework, there was a knock on the door. 'I'll get it!' Demi heard Nikki shout. She'd left the room and started walking over to the door before Nikki had chance to shout her.

"Perfect timing, I've just finished my homework." Demi said, smiling at Adam.

"I aim to please." Adam said grinning. "Your notebook." He said, handing her it with a little bow.

"Why thank you." She said, curtseying and laughing. "Come in, I'll be two minutes." She went into her room to put her notebook back in her back and get changed into her bikini, before getting her wetsuit and Bradin's surfboard. "Ready to go?" She asked when she came back out, finding him talking to Bradin.

"Yeah." He said, smiling. "See you later, Bradin."

"Hey, Bradin, what time are you meeting Erika? You could still come surfing with us if you've got time." Demi suggested.

"She should be here soon." Bradin said smiling. "Have fun though." Demi shrugged and left the house with Adam, and once again they were surfing a wave together in the sea.

"You're getting really good." Adam praised her when they paddled out to sea a bit more and floated for a few minutes.

"Thanks. Hopefully I'll be able to do more than just stand there soon." Demi laughed, sitting sideways on her board, facing Adam who was doing the same.

"You will soon. So… what was all that about at lunch?" Adam asked, trying to sound as casual as he could.

"Well, don't be surprised if Courtney tries to make you jump through hoops, because she thinks she owns you." Demi said bitterly.

"I can't believe you stood up to her like that. Barely anyone would." Adam laughed. "I mean, if you hadn't stopped things when you grabbed her hair you'd probably have kicked her arse!" The corners og Demi's mouth began to twitch. Every time that she had talked or thought about what happened with Courtney, she'd feel anger and hatred bubbling up inside of her, but this was the first time she wanted to laugh, the first time she was proud of it.

"Have you ever went out with her before? Or does she just have a crush on you, because I can't figure out which."

"I think I would kill myself if I went out with a girl like her. She's so vain and mean, she just grinds on me so much. I hate girls like her, who think they're better than everyone." Adam said, thinking thoughtfully, looking down into the sea, then looking up at Demi, who was watching him intensely. "…What?" He asked with a laugh.

"You've just basically summed up exactly how I feel about her." She said, looking at him, slightly astonished. "Although if I'd said it there'd be a few strong words in there." She added quickly. Adam laughed. He jerked his head to the side slightly, telling her to follow him and catch another wave.

They had been surfing for an hour when they finally came back to shore, both of them exhausted.

"You really are getting good." Adam told her, panting slightly. She smiled as she took her arms out of her wetsuit and wrapped her towel around her shoulders. They stood there with their towels around themselves. The breeze bit at Demi's skin, who wasn't quite used to the weather in Playa Linda yet, especially not straight after coming out of the sea. She shivered slightly. Adam seemed to notice this and took off his towel and wrapped it around her shoulders, too.

"Here." He said with a smile, rubbing her shoulders to warm them up. They looked at each other, Demi smiling, Adam deep in thought. They were standing so close to each other, their toes almost touching. Adam slowly began to lower his head down to Demi's. She gasped. This was definitely not been expecting this. His lips were an inch from hers now. Demi panicked.

"Maybe I should be getting home now." Demi said, turning her head to the left, looking over her shoulder slightly. She tried her best not to flush. She silently walked away from him and picked up Bradin's surfboard. Adam had straightened up, stood in the same spot, looking confused and hurt. Demi hated seeing him that way.

"Um, ok." Demi could hear it on his voice. She could barely stand it. "I'll walk you home." He offered. She could hear his pain in every word he spoke. She couldn't take it.

"No, it's ok." Demi said timidly, wanting to get away from him as fast as she could, so not to hear his voice anymore. She began walking briskly towards the house._ Don't look back._ She told herself. _Do NOT look back._ She couldn't help it. She looked over her shoulder quickly and saw Adam in the same spot as she left him, lowering himself down onto the sand and sitting with his knee bent up, resting his elbows on them. She wished she hadn't looked back. She felt horrible. A totally hot guy that she likes wanted to kiss her and she freaked. And he likes her, too! She felt like banging her head off a wall. She showed quickly and pulled her wetsuit fully off. She walked through the living room and found Bradin sat on the sofa.

"Erika had other plans so we couldn't go out tonight." Bradin said quickly, feeling he owed an explanation to the question she hadn't even asked. She wasn't even going to ask, either, as she would have done if everything had just been normal today, and she surfed with Adam and came back happy as she always did. "Where's Adam?" Bradin asked, leaning to look out of the patio doors slightly to see if he was outside. Demi walked quickly into her room, closing the door quietly behind her before laying on her bed, subconsciously picking up the teddy at the end of it that she'd received off Johnny as a child. She didn't cry, but stroked it, confused. She looked out of her window. She had a clear view of the beach, and could see that Adam was still there in the same spot. She felt like someone had dealt her a blow to the stomach when she saw him. She felt like scum. She couldn't believe she got a chance with Adam and blew it.

There was a knock on Demi's door. She knew it was Bradin but didn't answer. Bradin walked in anyway. He saw her stroking the teddy again, something he'd come to realise that she does when she's upset.

"Wow, it must be bad." Bradin said, nodding at the teddy. Demi threw it to the end of her bed. She sighed.

"It's not funny." She said, looking down into her lap, hating herself.

"What happened?" Bradin asked, sounding more serious now. She looked up at him. She really trusted Bradin, but this was a big secret, and when she thought about it, anyone could just tickle it out of him if he told them he knew something. But still, Bradin was the person she'd grown closest to in the house, and she was sure that he wouldn't tell if she asked him. She was still unsure and hesitant, however.

"Thing's are just… weird."

"I'm going to need a little more to go off than that, Dem." Bradin said with a soft laugh. He called her 'Dem'. No one had ever called her 'Dem', but for some reason, it made her feel more comfortable.

"Well, Adam thought I was cold so he put his towel around me and started rubbing my shoulders to warm me up."

"I get the feeling there's more to it than that." Demi shot him a look, and he held up his hands. "Sorry, just, you know…" Bradin said, circling one of his hands, indicating for her to get on with the story.

"Then… he tried to kiss me." She said, looking down into her lap again, hating herself even more now that she'd said it out loud.

"Well, that was obviously coming." Bradin said, the corners of his mouth twitching. She looked up at him, puzzled. He rolled his eyes at her. "Oh, come on, you MUST have known he fancied you. He even asked you for your English notes. Demi, he's a straight A student!"

"Britney said that, too." Demi said, feeling more and more hatred towards herself. "Well, in so many words. God I hate myself!"

"Anyway, carry on. You said he _tried _to kiss you. I'm guessing that means you didn't let him." Demi nodded guiltily. "And this was because…" Bradin probed. Demi remained silent for a while, but Bradin just waited.

"It's a secret." She said with a sigh.

"I can keep a secret." Bradin said. She looked up at him.

"It took everyone like, what, 2 minutes to get you to tell them that Derrick kissed Martha?" She thought about that night, how Bradin had blabbed, and thought about her own secret. She groaned and put her pillow to her head.

"Ok, how about I tell you a secret, and you tell me your's." Bradin offered. Demi didn't respond, but took her pillow away from her head and sat waiting, expectantly.

"I didn't really have plans with Erika tonight." Bradin said.

"Shocker." She said sarcastically. "But why'd you say you did?"

"Because… Adam wanted to spend some time alone with you, and I had to say I was going out with Erika so I had an excuse not to come surfing with you guys."

"Why'd he invite you if he wanted to be alone with me?"

"He didn't." He'd caught Demi's attention by saying this.

"But then why'd he tell me…"

"He told you so that you'd go, probably. I guess he just felt awkward asking to go out with you, you know, just the two of you." Demi considered this for a moment. It did make sense. "So, what's your secret?" Demi stayed quiet for a moment, still hesitant about saying it out loud. "Why don't I guess and you nod or shake your head." Demi looked up at him. "You have a boyfriend back home?" Demi shook her head. "You don't like him the way he likes you?" Demi shook her head again. "Guys have hurt you in the past and you're not willing to take a chance at love with him?" Demi shook her head, but smiled at how corny Bradin sounded. Bradin was at a loss. "Then, what is it? You like him, you're single, you haven't been hurt… then what?" She took a deep breath.

"What I'm about to tell you is something that I've never told anyone." Bradin nodded. "Something I'm pretty ashamed of." She said sadly. Bradin nodded again. "Something I've lied to my friends about a lot before." Like a robot, Bradin nodded again. "Don't laugh."

"I won't." Demi inhaled deeply and closed her eyes as she exhaled.

"I've… I've never had a boyfriend, or kissed a guy." She said finally. She looked over at Bradin, expecting him to laugh. He didn't. He just sat on her bed and nodded slowly, not knowing what to say. "… Bradin, say something."

"I wasn't expecting to here that." He said truthfully. Demi breathed a sigh of disappointment. "Not that there's anything wrong with that." He said quickly, trying not to sound insensitive.

"Bradin, tell me truthfully, what do you see when you look at me, and I don't mean feature-wise." Bradin was slightly taken aback by this request, but obeyed all the same.

"I see a beautiful girl who is a great, caring friend…"

"Exactly." Demi interrupted him. "A _friend_. It's exactly what every guy has ever seen in me." A small layer of tears began to form in Demi's eyes. She tried her best to blink them back.

"But that's not what Adam saw." Bradin added quickly. The layer of tears began to build higher.

"I know, and that's why I'm kicking myself now." She couldn't help letting a tear roll down her right cheek. "The first guy to finally like me and I freaked. I'm such an idiot!" She cried, letting a tear roll down her other cheek, too. "Please don't tell anyone." She said after a few hearty sniffs. He wiped the tears from her eyes and hugged her.

"I won't." He said, pulling out of the hug. "But I think, if you want another chance with Adam, you'll have to tell him."

"What?"

"Come on, Demi, you know that's he's a great guy and that he'll understand. He's not like most other guy's." She nodded. She knew he wasn't like other guys, that he was something special, but telling her secret again would be hard. She walked over to her window and looked out onto the beach again. Adam was gone.

P/S: Please review! Pretty please? I worked really hard on this one, been cooking it up for a while :)


	11. Chapter 11

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. Original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

A/N: Read and review! Hope you enjoy this chapter!

P/S:2 days to give you the next 2 chapters! So here they are :D

Chapter 11:

--

Demi was getting ready for school. She'd already showered, brushed her teeth, dried her hair and did her makeup, and now she had to pick something to wear. She wanted to look good if she was basically about to ask Adam out today. She wanted something that would make her look sexy, but not slutty like Courtney and the Cling-on's. A soft knock followed by Ava's voice came from the door.

"Demi, hurry up, you're going to be late for school."

"I won't be long!" Demi called back. She finally decided on ¾ length denim trousers and a pink tier tank top. She gave herself a final look in the mirror to make sure she looked ok, before entering the kitchen and grabbing an apple instead of eating breakfast, so not to make them late to school. When they arrived at PLH, Nikki quickly rushed to go and see Amber, but Bradin hung back with Demi instead of going straight over to the other guys on the surf team he usually hung around with.

"Dressing to impress, are we?" Bradin asked smirking. Demi elbowed him playfully in the side.

"Shut up." She picked out Adam's face in the surfer crowd. He was definitely looking glum. Demi sighed guiltily, for the umpteenth time. "I have no idea what I'm going to say to him."

"No, what you mean is you don't have any idea how to bring it up in conversation. So don't." Bradin told her. This confused Demi. "What I mean is don't try and start conversation and 'casually' drop it in." Bradin said, making air quotes as he said 'casually'. "Just pull him aside and tell him to that you'll talk and he'll listen. He likes you so he'll obey. Then tell him that you weren't expecting him to kiss you, so you kind of freaked. But tell him you really do like him. Don't worry about telling him about the no boyfriend and no kissing thing, tell him that later when you're together." Bradin told he in a know-it-all way.

"And how are you so sure that we'll be together, or that he'll listen?" She asked doubtfully.

"Just trust me." He told her, smirking. Demi knew he wasn't saying something, so stopped walking and looked at him. "What?" He asked. He looked guilty as hell. She crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows. "There's no secrets with you, is there?" She smiled smugly and shook her head. "Fine. He's sent me like 50 texts since it happened last night. _'__I don__'__t know what happened.__'__, __'__I__'__m confused.__'__, __'__Could you talk to her?__'__, __'__I thought she liked me __too.__'_" He said, listing them, putting a lot of emphasis on 'too', to prove his point that he still likes her. Demi bit her lip slightly.

"Fine." She said, defeated, not able to argue anymore. But she was still so nervous, he would be her first boyfriend if everything worked out. Just as she started walking over towards Adam, the school bell rang, and he was the first one to get through the doors. Demi sighed. He was obviously going to be giving her the cold shoulder, after letting him get so close to kissing her, and then leaving him on the beach without even a goodbye. Guilt panged inside her. She just wished that he'd understand.

Lessons went on, and on , and on, and on. Demi couldn't have been happier when she heard the bell, even if it was just the lunch bell. She went and got her lunch and sat with the nice popular clique. She scoped the room for Adam, receiving daggers off Courtney and the Cling-on's, but she didn't care about them. But there wasn't one sign of Adam all day.

When the last school bell rang, Demi violently shoved her books back in her bag and made her way home, walking alone. Demi knew that Adam was avoiding her, but she didn't know he could do it so well. She put her bag in her room then slumped onto the sofa with a sigh of frustration. She stayed there for a while, thinking about everything, that day, telling Bradin the secret, how Adam had avoided her so well. She decided she'd definitely try a lot harder to get his attention and make him listen tomorrow. Just as she made that conclusion, Nikki came through the front door.

"Hey, Nik." She said, giving her best attempt at a smile.

"Oh, hey." She replied quickly before rushing upstairs to her room. Something was definitely up with Nikki and Demi couldn't just ignore it. She followed her up the stairs and into her room. She was sat on her bed, looking out of the window. She definitely looked troubled.

"Hey Nik." Demi said again, walking slowly into her room.

"Hi." She gave a sad smile, barely even trying.

"You ok?" Nikki knew Demi didn't just mean in general.

"Uh, yeah, I guess." Nikki said, not looking at Demi. Demi sat next to her on her bed, and decided to probe it out of her.

"Is it about school?" Nikki shook her head. Demi knew she'd save the best guess until last. "Amber?" She inquired further. Nikki shook her head again. "Cameron?" Nikki said nothing and stayed still this time.

"It's stupid, nothing's even wrong, I'm just… worried." Nikki admitted.

"Worried about what?"

""Lately he's been acting really… I just get the feeling he's… well whenever I'm around him…" Demi stopped her this time.

"He tries to kiss the lips off your face?" Demi quipped, smirking.

"Oh, you noticed." Nikki said sarcastically.

"Well he _is_ all over you, no matter where you are, and you have been looking worried when you're with him lately."

"I just think… I mean, he hasn't said anything, but I think he might want to… take our relationship further." Nikki said awkwardly, trying to find the right words.

"And are you ok with that? I mean, are you ready for that?" Demi asked seriously.

"I love him. I really do love him. And I don't know if we'll last forever and get married or whatever, but all I know is that its real love. But if someone found out, I'd be a slut and Cam would be praised. But over half the girls in my year have already…"

"Nik, it doesn't matter what everyone else is doing, don't do it to follow the crowd. You have to make sure that, when you're ready, you don't care what everyone else thinks, and that you're going into it with no doubts. How long have you two been together?"

"Ages. I mean, we were a little on and off at first, but we've been together long over a year now." Demi felt slightly awkward giving Nikki advice, seeing as Nikki was way more experienced than her, even Derrick was more experienced than her, which made her a little angry with herself. But she wasn't going to tell Nikki this, and tried her best to put herself in Nikki's shoes.

"Well, you've been together a long time, which is good. And you love him. Has he ever told you that he loves you?" Nikki nodded her head, smiling a little. "And you know that if you did do it, you have to be safe?"

"Yes, I know." Nikki said cringing.

"But are you ready? Are you waiting to give your virginity to someone special?"

"Yeah, I am, but I'm starting to think that Cam's that guy." Demi smiled.

"And you know that he'll stick with you through thick and thin?"

"We already have been through hard times in the past." Nikki said thoughtfully.

"You need to decide whether you're ready, and whether you can trust Cam to keep it secret. And you have to make sure that you don't care what other people think if it did get out, whether your love for him is strong enough to cope with that."

"Thanks, Demi." Nikki said, hugging her.

"What I think you should do now is talk to Cam about it. For all you know, he might not even want to take it further yet. You just need to know where you stand. And don't be embarrassed to talk to Cam about it, he's your boyfriend, right? And if you trust him, it should be easy." Demi said with a smile. Demi couldn't believe she'd just given Nikki relationship advice, when her love life was non-existent. Demi said goodbye to Nikki and made her way downstairs. _'__Surely if its that easy to give advice, it__'__ll be easy to get Adam.__'_ She thought to herself, smiling.


	12. Chapter 12

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. Original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

A/N: Ok, this is one of my favourite chapters so far, even thought it's a bit shorter than the others, so I hope you enjoy it too! R&R!

Chapter 12:

--

Demi decided she'd have to kick it up a notch if she wanted Adam to look her way again. She had already showered dried her hair, etc, now she just had to pick out her outfit, which was proving to be more difficult than it sounded. Ava had already called in to say she was going to make them late again, so she finally decided on a very short denim short, revealing most of her legs, which, luckily, were one of Demi's best features. She also wore a white rose budded top which flared slightly at the bottom and had two thin straps over the shoulders.

Bradin raised his eyebrows at her when she finally entered the living room, simply to annoy her, so Demi rolled just rolled her eyes. Once again, she picked an apple over cereal.

"Lets go." She said happily, walking toward the door and taking a bite out of her apple.

Once again, Adam avoided Demi before school, but this didn't phase her, she was determined to get him today. The schools clocks seemed to mock Demi as they turned as slowly as they could. The lessons dragged on and on, Demi could hardly believe she was still awake when the lunch bell rang.

Demi bought her lunch and sat with the nice popular clique again. She scoped the room several times, but to no avail. Demi couldn't help but notice the time and effort the plastics were putting into glaring evilly at her. She smiled sweetly at them and wiggled her fingers, mockingly. Demi sat and ate her lunch and still saw absolutely no sign of Adam, but had noticed that she was no longer receiving dagger's. She decided to scope the room for the plastics instead, and soon found one. Fury bubbled inside her as she saw Courtney standing next to the door with Adam. She watched as Courtney twirled her extensions in her fingers, batting her big fake eyelashes. She whispered something in Adam's ear, and to Demi's astonishment, he laughed. Her mouth dropped, he'd said he absolutely couldn't stand her, that he hated her as much as Demi did. Something inside Demi snapped. She opened her carton of milk and took a quick swig, before walking over to Adam and Courtney.

"What do you want?" Courtney asked coolly, giving her signature death glare. Adam watched, unsure of what to do. Demi just smiled, the cheeriest smile she could muster. She poured her entire carton of milk over Courtney's head.

"Sorry, you were blocking the door." She said, smiling sweetly but giving Courtney an equally bad death glare. Courtney stood there in shock. Everybody watched in shock. Courtney gritted her teeth.

"You little-" her sentence was cut short as she screamed. Demi had punched her square in the face, and was soon on top of her, punching her with everything she had. Courtney tried her best to pull at Demi's hair, but Demi would scratch her wrist every time she tried. Demi wouldn't usually fight as girls typically would, pulling hair, scratching and slapping, she much preferred kicking and punching as it hurt more, but Demi knew how much Courtney's appearance mattered to her, so pulled at her extensions and scratched across her face. She soon felt herself lifting from the ground, being pulled off Courtney.

"Demi, stop!" She heard Adam say. Bradin had rushed in to help too, and had grabbed Courtney before she could get a free punch in while Adam was holding Demi. Demi kicked her legs out, trying to do as much damage to Courtney as she could. She never knew that you could hate someone so much after knowing them for just 24 hours. Adam had put an arm under Demi's legs, and she soon stopped kicking through fear of hurting Adam as he carried her out of the lunch hall. The halls were pretty much deserted as everyone was either in a class or in the lunch hall. He put her down once they were a safe distance from the hall.

"What was all that about?" Adam asked. Demi couldn't tell how he was feeling, she couldn't tell if it was anger in his voice, worry or hurt. He seemed pretty calm, almost emotionless. Demi's breathing was slightly heavy after her fight.

"I thought you hated her." She said, trying to also rid her voice of all emotion. He gave her a confused look.

"I do."

"She was all over you, and then she was whispering to you and you were laughing. I didn't think you would put up with her so long if you hated her so much." Emotions were creeping into Demi's voice. She sounded slightly angry, but also upset.

"She was grinding on me, I just couldn't shake her. I was about to say bye to her before you came over." Adam said thoughtfully.

"I'm sorry." Demi sighed after a few moments of looking at him. Adam looked over at her. He had walked a little away from her as they spoke.

"What for?" He tried to stay calm, but Demi could sense the hurt in his voice now.

"Well, for everything. For what just happened in the hall… and what happened yesterday." Adam flushed slightly when she said this, but tried his best to hide it.

"Don't worry about it, I get it." Adam said. "We're just friends." He said after a moment.

"Don't you want to be more than that?" Demi had been looking directly at him, and for the first time, he looked directly back into her eyes.

"I didn't think you did… after yesterday." he said. Demi couldn't help but smile a little.

"You just caught me off guard. Truth is," she bit her lip and looked up at him, "I do want to be with you." She said shrugging her left shoulder. He smiled down at her, Demi had never really noticed that he was taller than her, just enough to make her have to raise her head a bit when she looked at him. She stared straight into his ocean blue eyes, becoming lost in them.

"Demi?" He said, moving closer to her.

"Yeah?" She felt a shiver go down her spine as he came closer.

"Would I be catching you off guard if I kissed you?" Adam asked grinning, putting his hands on her hips and pulling her closer to him. The grin on her face answered this question. He slowly lowered his head and pressed his lips on hers. Demi's eyes slid closed, enjoying every moment of the kiss. He moved one hand up her back and up to her soft, silky hair. He stroked her hair, pulling her closer, willing her to kiss him more. His tongue slowly slid into her mouth. She touched his with her own. Everything felt so natural. She'd been so afraid of screwing up her first kiss, but Adam was making it perfect. The kiss lingered for a while, and they eventually broke free from the embrace. Just as Adam reached down and grabbed Demi's hand, a voice spoke from next to them.

"Demi King? Would you like to step into my office. You too, Mr Carter, you were a witness to the attack on Miss. Holmes, were you not?" Adam gulped. Demi took 'Miss. Holmes' to mean Courtney.


	13. Chapter 13

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. Original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

A/N: I love this chapter, I promise there's drama at the end, and more to come!

Chapter 13:

--

Demi felt no guilt whatsoever when her heart leaped upon seeing the damage she had done to Courtney. She thought she would be incredibly disappointed in herself, getting into a major fight on the third day at a new school, but she just couldn't help but be happy. She finally had a boyfriend and her first kiss was awesome, and on top of all that she had almost ruined Courtney's entire image which, ok, was pretty bad, but it led to her getting together with Adam, plus she thoroughly enjoyed kicking her ass.

"We have phoned your parents…" Principle Flannigan began.

"They're not my parents." Demi interrupted quickly. She saw a vein on his nick bulge. She had to try her hardest to stifle a laugh.

"We have phoned your _guardians_ and they are on the way to pick you up now. You, too, Mr Westerly" It was the first time that Demi had noticed Bradin was in the room. Bradin was about to ask why, but decided against asking if it meant getting time out of school. "Your parents have also been phoned, Miss Holmes." He said, addressing the snivelling Courtney in the corner. Demi and Adam sat in the two remaining available chairs, with their hands intertwined, Adam slouching slightly. They endured 10 minutes of listening to nothing but the sound of Courtney's sobbing and snivelling coming from the corner, a sound that made Demi want to pounce on her again. Eventually, Ava and Johnny came, as did Courtney's parents.

"Demi." Johnny sighed, then widened his eyes when he saw what she'd done, half shocked and, shamefully, half impressed. Of course, Mr. Flannigan didn't just let them go, he made them endure another twenty minutes lecture, and then told Demi and Courtney they were both suspended for a week. When Courtney asked why she was being punished, she got told it was because she participated in the fight, too. She had only attempted to pull Demi's hair, which Demi had stopped her from doing, but Demi was happy to see Courtney upset once again, even when she knew the fight was all her fault. They all left the office, Courtney walking straight down the hallway and out the front doors, led by her parents. Ava, Johnny and Bradin had started walking off in the same direction, but Demi hung back for a moment, kissing Adam goodbye and inviting him to go surfing that night. She caught up with them and walked to the car, grinning from ear to ear.

Soon they were back at the house, and not long after everyone else had came through the doors. Of course, Nikki was the first to ask about the fight, other than Johnny and Ava who'd asked in the car and gave disappointed looks and remarks, but nothing more.

"God, I wish I could've gotten a picture of her." Demi said, smirking, once she'd finished telling Nikki the story of the beating.

"I think some people did." Bradin told her. "I mean, major catfight, two hot girls? One word for that my friends: Youtube." Demi threw a cushion at him but couldn't help smiling, as she had done since kissing Adam for the first time.

"Why have you got a goofy smile on your face all the time?" Nikki asked with a laugh as she looked at her, as she was secretly thinking about her kiss earlier.

"What? I just beat the snot out of the girl I hate and I can't be happy?"

"You weren't that happy yesterday…" Nikki was cut short by a knock at the door.

"I'll get it." Demi said quickly before anyone else could. She ran to the door then straightened herself up before answering it. Adam was right on time to go surfing. "Hey." She said softly looking up into Adam's gorgeous eyes.

"Hey." He replied before kissing her. Demi's eyes slid shut and her hand found his before they broke apart. As soon as she turned round she saw Nikki quickly look away from the sofa.

"Hey, Bradin, wanna come surfing?" Demi asked him as she picked up her bag.

"Of course, why wouldn't I want to tag along on the new couple's first date." Bradin said sarcastically, smirking, not even looking up at them. Once again, Demi threw a cushion at him, but he'd seen it coming and caught it.

"You don't mind me using your board again, do you?"

"Just go." He said, flipping through channels on the TV and laughing.

Demi and Adam had been on dry land for 10 minutes now, both of them ready to surf but were bone dry. Adam had tackled Demi to the ground as she was picking up her ankle strap and was kissing her passionately, which, of course, Demi didn't object to. But it wasn't long until they were joined by unwanted company.

"Well, well, look who we have here." Demi looked up to see a face she loathed, of course belonging to Courtney.

"Wow, I didn't expect to see you out of your house so soon. Aren't you afraid of everyone seeing those shiners? Well, and your natural hair length, scratches, bruises, cuts…" Demi quipped as she began listing them off her fingers.

"Whatever." Courtney said, holding up a hand dismissively and giving Demi her signature daggers. "But let me just warn you, you'd better sleep with one eye open, I wasn't going to let you get away with what you did on Monday, but now?" Courtney snorted. "You're are dead woman." And with that she turned round, flicking her hair, which Demi was glad to see didn't work as well for her as she didn't have as much hair to flick.

"Maybe we should surf now." Demi suggested, unperturbed by Courtney's death threat. Adam smiled as he helped her up and minutes later they were riding the waves once again.

--Late that night--

Demi lay awake in her bed. It was only 10 o'clock but she was tired, having had an extra eventful day. And she didn't even have to go into school the next day. She couldn't help but smile, even though suspension is quite a serious punishment. She couldn't believe how well everything had went, she'd had to pinch herself to remind herself that it was all real. She couldn't stop her mind from wandering to Adam. She loved the way his lips felt as they brushed against hers, the way they tasted, and the way they left her smiling for hours after they had gone. But she also thought about Courtney. Ok, so she'd been totally calm when she received a death threat from her, but she still wondered what Courtney had in mind for her, or if she had anything planned for her at all. She wondered whether Courtney knew…

Demi's thought trail was interrupted by rustling outside her window, coming from the bushes. The summer night breeze often rocked the bushes, but they were exceptionally noisy tonight. Demi hated noises like this, the kind that make her jump and make her scared, even though she knows it's just the wind playing tricks on her. She turned over in her bed, facing away from the window, and soon fell into a deep slumber.

Demi sat bolt upright. She'd heard another noise outside coming from the bushes. She looked at her alarm clock. 6:24. She looked over to the source of the rustling. It had stopped now, although the bush still swayed slightly. It was an early summer morning in Playa Linda, which usually meant no wind at all. Demi dismissed it, thinking she was just making a big deal out of nothing. Try as she might, and believe me she tried, she couldn't get back to sleep. She lay on her back, staring blankly up at the ceiling. Ten minutes later and she decided she couldn't take it anymore, so got up to get an early breakfast. She swung her legs over the bed and stood up, stretching and yawning, until a creep from outside her door nearly made her jump out of her skin. She'd always been afraid of little creaks and noises around her room, as back when she lived with her mother it meant she was about to be attacked, and this fear had obviously scarred her now. She slowly walked over to her door, reaching out a shaking hand and slowly pushing down the handle. She jumped again as she heard a clink of glasses, making her hand push down hard on the handle and it swung open. Demi let out a small yelp, then was overwhelmed with relief when she saw Nikki getting the milk out of the fridge and pouring herself a glass.

"God, Nikki, you scared the crap out of me!" She said, her hand clutched to her chest. She walked over to the little kitchen and sat on a stool.

"What? I was quiet." Nikki said defensively.

"Yeah, well I wake up at the sound of a pin dropping." Demi told her. "Why are you downstairs so early, anyway?"

"Couldn't sleep." Nikki said simply, not really looking at Demi. Demi looked at her quizzically.

"You're lying." She said after a moment.

"What do you mean?" Demi heard her voice tremble slightly, but it was barely noticeable.

"Nikki, we both know I'm gunna find out in the end, I always do, so tell me whatever it is you're lying about so we can both save a lot of time." Demi told her raising one of her eyebrows slightly. Nikki bit her lip a little.

"It's a secret." Nikki said finally.

"You've told me secrets before, like the other night about Cam." Nikki pressed the glass of milk to her lips when Demi said this. There was a tiny smear of lipstick on the glass where her lips had just been, and Demi noticed that Nikki was wearing mascara and eyeliner, although most of it had rubbed off. "Oh, God." Demi said looking at her. Nikki tried her hardest not to flush, but Demi saw her cheeks glowing redder than the blusher she had put on them. "You snuck out last night, didn't you?"

"Ok, fine, I went round Cam's and stayed for most of the night, but it's no big deal." Nikki said, defeated.

"Nikki, of course it's a big deal!" Nikki put her finger to her lips and shushed Demi as her voice raised. It began to make sense. Nikki must have snuck out through the windows, and she made the bush rustle last night and this morning, since it's the easiest place to sneak out from and get away without being seen.

"Ok, I know it's a big deal because I lost my virginity last night," Nikki whispered. "But you're the one who gave me the advice!"

"I told you to make sure you love him and talk about it with him before you do anything else, I didn't say go and jump his bones as soon as you can!" Demi realised what she'd said, a little too late. "Nikki, sorry, I didn't mean that, I was just, well, kind of shocked." Nikki looked down at the floor, stung by Demi's words. "I know we talked and everything, I just, I dunno, I wasn't expecting this to happen, not this soon anyway." Nikki didn't answer. "Did you talk to him about it before you did it?" She asked, trying to restart the conversation. Nikki nodded.

"Of course I did. It's like you told me. I needed to know where I stand with him, so I found out, and I 100 love him, and I don't care if people at school find out."

"And he didn't put any pressure on you at all?" Demi inquired.

"No, he loves me." Nikki said simply before drinking the rest of her milk.

"Good." Demi said, sighing. She got up and hugged Demi. "Sorry about what I said, I really didn't mean it, I was just a bit shocked." Nikki hugged her back.

"It's ok."

"So, are you going to tell anyone about it?" Demi asked.

"I don't think so, well, not yet at least. But if it keeps going the way it is, I'll have to say something. I can never keep secrets from aunt Ava, so I'll have to avoid her a bit. I might tell Amber, though."

"Do you'll think she'll gossip?" Demi asked seriously. Nikki shook her head.

"She's my best friend, I can trust her."

"Do you think Cam will tell anyone?" Again, Nikki shook her head.

"Me, Cam and Amber are three best friends, and Cam doesn't really talk to many other people other than us. Me and Amber do, but Cam doesn't tend to. I think he'd be shy about telling anyway." Demi smiled and nodded her head. "Do you think I should tell anyone?" Nikki asked.

"Definitely not at school, I mean I think it's safe to tell Amber, but no one else. And I don't know why, but for some reason, I think you should tell your aunt Ava. I mean, you two are super-close, and she'll soon realise you're sneaking out in the middle of the night." Nikki pondered over this for a moment.

"But it would be really awkward telling aunt Ava. I mean, I love her, and we are close, but she'll never look at me the same again once she knows."

"Once 'she' knows what?" Demi and Nikki turned around, shocked. Ava was walking into the room, giving them both a little smile. "What are you two doing up so early, you woke me."

"Couldn't sleep." Demi blurted out. Nikki quickly nodded her head in agreement. Ava looked at them suspiciously.

"What's going on?" She asked curiously.

"Nothing." Nikki said, trying to rid her voice of any signs of panicking. She didn't do a very good job. Ava raised an eyebrow at her.

"One of you had better tell me what's going on. We don't have secrets in this house." Nikki looked at Demi. Demi felt so sorry for her, her eyes just screamed 'help me!'. Demi creased her eyes slightly and gave a tiny shrug of her shoulders that only Nikki would notice, telling her maybe they should just tell the truth. Nikki took a deep breath. She knew she was going to have to tell her sooner or later, so she may as well bite the bullet and get it over with.


	14. Chapter 14

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. Original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

A/N: The drama continues. :D. Well, maybe not so much at the end, but the end is kind of doubled with the next chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 14:

--

"What!?" Ava fumed after her 15 year old niece told her how she'd spent her night. She'd said it a lot louder than Nikki had hoped she would, loud enough to wake others. Bradin was first to poke his head sleepily around the door. "You snuck out of the house last night, on a school night, to have sex?" Bradin soon woke up fully upon hearing this. Nikki had definitely not expected her calm aunt to react in this way, she knew she'd be mad but she didn't think she'd shout it for everyone to hear. "I didn't even know you and Cam had gone this far." Ava said a little less furiously and more disappointedly. Nikki hated her aunt being disappointed in her. She tried her hardest to fight back the tears. Demi could tell that Nikki wanted the ground to swallow her up.

"Aunt Ava, it was the first time." Nikki tried to explain, her eyes tearing up as she spoke. Bradin had now walked into the room and was watching the scene in disbelief. Johnny was now making his way down the stairs. Nikki wished everyone would just go to bed and mind their own business.

"I'm so disappointed in you Nikki, I thought you knew better than to do this." Nikki began to get defensive as Ava said this.

"Knew better? Ok, maybe I am a bit young but I've still got a good head on my shoulders and Cam and I love each other." Nikki had her arms folded now. Ava's eyes widened as she said this.

"Nikki, I know you and Cam love each other, but I thought you were waiting for someone special to come along…"

"Cam_ is_ special! And it's not like I just thought 'I know, lets go have sex with Cam.' I got a second opinion, first."

"_Uh oh.__"_ Demi thought. Obviously, everyone was going to have expected her to just point blank tell her not to.

"And whose was that?" Ava asked.

"Demi's." Nikki said simply. Demi was now wishing that the ground would swallow _her _up.

"Uh… I…" Demi began, not quite knowing what to say.

"So how long have you been cooking this up?" Ava continued, not giving Demi a second glance. Her cheeks were surely glowing red by now.

"I asked Demi on Tuesday." Demi could've died. Ava gave her a quick glance and Bradin simply stared at her, knowing that she was in no position to be giving relationship advice on Tuesday night, never having been in one herself.

"You asked Demi on Tuesday, snuck out and had sex on Wednesday and came back on Thursday? You made that decision pretty quick, Nikki." Ava said sternly. Nikki didn't know what to say to this. Ava sighed, not wanting to nag anymore. "I know you're growing up, but I just wish you'd came to me before rushing into things. I understand that you and Cam love each other and want to go further with each other, but please, promise me, that you'll come and talk to me next time you have to make a big decision like this. No matter what, I want to make sure that we don't stop talking."

"Ok, Aunt Ava." Nikki said quietly as Ava gave her a quick kiss on the forehead.

"Now come on, everyone, back to bed before we wake Derrick and Susannah up." They all dispersed from the room. Demi made her way to her room without looking at anyone, but, as she predicted, Bradin followed her.

"Wow, I didn't expect to be woken up to that." Bradin said, looking at her.

"Go back to bed, Bradin." Demi told him, still feeling bad about the situation herself, sitting on her bed.

"And Nikki came to you for advice? What did you tell her? 'Yeah, do it as fast as you can, I wish I could!'" Demi looked down at her mattress, praying that she wouldn't cry. Bradin felt guilty about mocking her after she told him her secret. "Sorry, I didn't mean that." He said apologetically, sitting on her bed. "…Say something." He said, after a long, dragged out moment of silence.

"I didn't tell her to just go sleep with him. I let her make the decision herself. I just told her that she needs to make sure she loves him first, and to remember to be safe if they do, and that she's not doing it to follow the crowd, and to prepare herself in case it gets spread round school. Then I told her to talk to Cam, make sure she knows where they stand before she starts rushing to conclusions." Demi said finally. They both sat awkwardly through another long silence.

"I kind of wish you'd just told her not to." Bradin said, breaking the silence.

"We both know that she expected to hear that from everyone and wouldn't listen if I told her that. So I just put myself in her shoes and made sure she loved Cam enough to give him her virginity, and of course to be safe if they do. I just gave her a criteria to be met, really, and I told her to make sure she's absolutely ready."

"Yeah, I know. I still can't believe that Nikki and Cam… you know."

"How old were you when you lost your virginity?" Demi asked curiously.

"17." Demi was actually quite surprised to hear this. She was sure that someone as good looking as Bradin would've lost it earlier.

"Really?" She asked a little shocked. He looked up at her with a little laugh.

"Yeah, really. Ok, I admit it, I was kind of ashamed I hadn't done it earlier, it's not like I wasn't going to earlier, it just never happened." He admitted.

"If you were planning on losing it earlier, then why are you so surprised about Nikki? I mean, the age that people lose their virginity is getting lower and lower, it was practically inevitable."

"Yeah, but it's Nikki, she my little sister, it's sick to think she's done it already. You just never really think about this stuff." Demi considered this. She was an only child, but she had been living with the Westerly children for a whole summer, and everyone in the house felt like family, closer to her than her mother had ever been.

Demi looked at her alarm clock. 6:50.

"Shouldn't you be getting ready for school soon." Demi said smugly, laying back on her bed because she didn't have to go in.

"Well since _I__'__m_ a good boy who hasn't gone and gotten himself suspended, I guess I should." He said mockingly, getting up and saying bye to Demi.

--Later--

Of course, after this mornings commotion, Demi couldn't get back to sleep, so went into the living room and watched TV as everyone got ready to go to school. Slowly but surely, they all came down to eat their breakfast. Seeing as morning TV bored Demi to death, she turned it off and joined them, eating a bowl of cereal for breakfast for the first time in days.

"So what are gunna do while we're all at school?" Bradin asked Demi through a mouthful of cereal.

"Bradin, don't talk with your mouth full." Nikki told him. Demi noticed how Bradin looked at Nikki for a second when she said it, then looked away as fast as he could, not able to look at his sister for too long now.

"I dunno, probably just read a book and wait for school to finish." She replied, feeling that it was her fault Bradin couldn't look at Nikki, and feeling a pang of guilt.

"No you won't." Johnny chipped in, pouring himself some coffee.

"What do you mean?" Demi asked, confused.

"Demi, your off school as a punishment."

"Yeah, the best punishment they could give me." Demi quipped, smirking.

"Well, your day's not going to be all fun and games, even though it will probably be better than going to school." Johnny said, thinking for a moment before receiving an elbow in the rib from Ava.

"You're going to help out at Mona's Sandbar. And since there's not much to do there, you can head over to Beyond The Blue after."

"Beyond The Blue?" Demi asked confused.

"Jay's surf shop." Bradin told her.

"Oh. Well that shouldn't be too bad."

"Ok, guys, time for school." Johnny called as they made their way to the sink, putting their bowls in before heading to the door.

"Have a nice day at school." Demi said in a mocking voice, smiling.

"Oh, we will. Just hope Jay doesn't make you do inventory." Bradin told her.

"Actually, that's her first job when she get's there." Johnny said, heading for the door.

"Ha ha." Bradin said mockingly before disappearing behind the door.

--At Mona's sandbar--

"Ok, Demi, clean down all the tables and set them." Johnny instructed. She picked up a cloth and did as she was told. As she did Demi heard the faint sound of footsteps coming towards the bar.

"Hey Johnny." Erika said with a smile. She walked in sat at the bar for a moment before realising someone else was in the room. "Hey… Demi?"

"Hey." Demi replied with a smile.

"Shouldn't you be in school?"

"She should be." Johnny quipped, walking towards the back room carrying boxes.

"I got in a fight and got suspended." Demi told her.

"And Johnny wouldn't just let you sit at home in peace, what a nice uncle." Demi laughed. Erika picked up another cloth and started scrubbing down the bar.

"So what happened in school that was bad enough to get you suspended on your third day at a new school." Erika said with a grin.

"I beat up a plastic."

"Ah I see. And what was this 'plastic' doing that was so bad you had to beat her up."

"She was just all over this guy…"

"I should've known." Erika said laughing, sitting on a barstool. "So who was the guy?"

"He's called Adam."

"Do I know him?" Erika asked.

"Erm, I don't think so. He's on our schools surf team…"

"Adam Carter? Yeah, I know him, I was the school's surf coach for a little while. Plus I see him with Bradin sometimes. I wouldn't like to see the state of the plastic." Erika said grinning.

"Why not?" Demi asked, a smirk creeping up on her face as she cleaned the last table and remembered how Courtney looked once she was finished with her.

"Well, Adam's pretty cute, so you probably beat the crap out of her." Erika laughed, before giving Demi an I-told-you-so look when she kept quiet.

"So how did Adam react?"

"He dragged me off her once I'd beaten her black and blue." Demi smiled. "Of course, I still tried to kick her. Then he grabbed my legs and carried me out of the hall."

"So he whisked you off your feet." Erika said, sounding slightly impressed. "Did it work?"

"Did what work?"

"Beating up the girl he was talking to so that he'd look your way?" Erika smirked.

"Well, he kinda looked my way a few nights before, but it got weird. And then he just avoided me and didn't give me a chance to explain."

"How did things 'get weird'?" Erika, putting air quotes around 'get weird' as she said it. Demi wasn't sure whether she should tell Erika or not, since only Demi, Adam and Bradin knew what happened that night. In the end she decided it would be pretty harmless to tell her.

"We went surfing and he saw that I was cold when we got out of the water. He wrapped his towel around me and started rubbing my shoulders, then… I freaked when he tried to kiss me. I just said maybe I should go home and told him not to walk me when he offered." Demi still felt guilty about everything.

"You didn't want to kiss him?" Erika asked, confused.

"I did, it's just… he caught me off guard." Demi shrugged.

"Is he still ignoring you now?" Demi shook her head, a smile creeping onto her face yet again.

"I hate to interrupt, ladies, but there's work to be done." Johnny told them, shaking a plate in his hand before telling Demi to do the dishes.


	15. Chapter 15

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. Original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

A/N: Enjoy, and thanks to **ShiaLover09 **and **MissAnomaly, **and everyone who has reviewed, I appreciate it!

Chapter 15:

--

After a gruelling hour of dishes, Johnny had told Demi she wasn't needed at the sandbar anymore and told her to make her way to Beyond The Blue. It turned out there wasn't much for Demi to do at Beyond The Blue, either, but she still had to stay there until the last school bell rang. As Johnny had said that morning, inventory was her first job. It wasn't too hard, but it took a while, especially since it was her first time doing it, and was pretty boring. Once she was finished with the inventory, Jay sent her to the back room to get some boxes full of new wetsuits that had just been delivered. It was pretty dark back there, since there were no windows, and Demi was kind of glad when she walked into a hanging string, then pulled it realising it turned the light on. The boxes were at her feet. Just as she stood up, carrying 2 boxes piled on top of each other, she got a shock off what she saw in front of her.

"Oh my God." She said, panting a little and laughing at how something so stupid and not-scary had scared her. It was a standee with a very familiar person on, holding a surfboard with Surf Force written across it. Next to the standee was a small box, with posters and magazines, some with Bradin on the cover. There were newspaper article clippings in the box, too, some with cello tape on from being stuck on windows, doors and walls. Demi put down the boxes she was holding at sat cross legged on the floor, picking out a magazine with Bradin's face on, giving a smouldering look. She flipped to the article. It talked about his success, the amount of tournaments and trophies he'd won. Demi couldn't believe it. As she read more and more of them, she realised that the earlier dated magazines had been singing his praises, and the later dated ones said how Bradin was in a fight with a photographer, several of them having articles titles 'Bad Boy'. She read many articles, all of them saying basically the same thing, although their stories differed slightly from one another. According to all the articles, Bradin had gotten into a fight at a 'Heal the Bay' campaign with a member of the paparazzi. Some of them say how he'd grabbed the photographer and pulled him over the bar punching him, others say he just punched him and screamed at him to get off. She looked at the pictures accompanying the articles, mot of them had him with a girl, or many girls. The most ridiculous one she saw had him handcuffed to many girls, all of them throwing themselves at him.

"Jay said he asked for those wetsuits over an hour ago." Demi looked up to see Bradin staring at her, reading a 'Bad Boy' article where he was handcuffed to many girls.

"Looks like I'm not the only one who got into a fight." Demi said, holding up the magazine.

"It wasn't a fight, the media just twisted it to look that way. He grabbed my arm and kept asking for pictures, so I pulled my arm away and told him to get off. Then he dived over the barrier to make it look like I broke his arm." Bradin said, sounding annoyed as he reminisced.

"You never told me you went pro."

"You never asked."

"Oh yeah, because I ALWAYS ask surfers if they've gone pro." She said rolling her eyes as Bradin held out his hand to help her up. She fell almost instantly. "Ouch! My legs are completely numb." She said, laughing. "How long was I sitting there for?"

"Well over an hour." Jay chipped in, walking past her slumped up against the door frame and picking up the wetsuit boxes.

After a severe case of pins and needles, which Bradin annoyingly thought it would be funny to move her legs whilst she had them, she finally got up and put all the wetsuits on display.

"Thanks, Demi, I guess you can go home now." Jay told her.

"I will soon, but first I want to buy a surfboard." She said, smiling at him.

"Really?" He asked, as he didn't even know she surfed.

"Yeah, I can only lend Bradin's so many times." She laughed. Jay showed her the range of surfboards and which was best for her and she finally picked one and paid for it, after going home to get the money first, then left the shop with Bradin.

"So how come you haven't got a sponsorship now?" Demi asked, holding her new board under her arm.

"They made out that I was the 'Bad boy', and my sponsorship even went along with it. But it just wasn't me." Bradin said.

"You didn't seem to mind being the bad boy in those photos, you know, hand cuffed to gorgeous girls who were throwing themselves at you."

"Before they made me the bad boy, I'd told Derrick he should come to one of my photo shoots if he wanted to. He'd never cared about it, but as soon as I became the bad boy, I was the cool older brother again and all of his friends loved me. And they came to that photo shoot, where I was handcuffed to all the girls and it was just wrong, having him stare at me doing all that stuff, not thinking there was anything wrong with it." Demi stared at him, eyebrows raised, impressed. "What?"

"I can't believe you did that for your Derrick, I would've thought you loved having half naked girls throwing themselves on you."

"I got loads of girls throwing themselves at me, yeah, but it meant I couldn't have the one girl I loved."

"Who?"

"Erika." He said with a smile. "But now that's all blown over and we can be together, without caring what anyone else thinks. It was stupid, it was just because she was older than me, and because she was my surf coach."

"It's like you know so much about me and I only know so little about you."

"Yeah, well, the sponsorship thing wasn't exactly something I'm proud of now."

"Oh please, I bet there's tons more I don't know about you."

"Maybe." He shrugged, grinning.

"Well I know a little bit more about you from those articles. You like to steal jet ski's."

"Oh, God, please don't remind me."

"Tell me about it." Demi told him, smirking, knowing he was hating the fact she knew about the embarrassing things in his life.

"It was my ex, Sara. She got on the jet ski and told me to get on. I said no at first but… Sara just isn't the type of person you could say no to. She was the craziest person I'd ever met, and not in a good way. Not long after that I had to set up a trap so she couldn't run away while her parents came and then she got sent to rehab."

"Oh my god." Demi said, shocked.

"Yeah. She came to see me on a home visit, too. Then when I told her that I wouldn't still be her boyfriend when she came out of rehab, she stole her family's money, and they were filthy rich, and took her passport and took off. No one knows where she is, now."

"Have all your past relationships been that chaotic?" Demi asked, chuckling.

"I went out with a girl named Callie. She's in your European history class."

"Oh yeah, I know her. She's going out with Lucas, isn't she."

"Yeah, he asked her out right after I dumped her. Needless to say, me and Lucas aren't best friends anymore, but we get along again."

"Why did you dump her?"

"You really want to know my life story, don't you?" Bradin laughed.

"No, I just want to find out a few things about you that I didn't know before, maybe some of your deepest secrets, since you know mine." Bradin rolled his eyes.

"I dumped Callie because we just weren't happy together anymore. Aunt Ava walked in on us in my room and it was very… awkward."

"As I can imagine. Oh wait, I don't have to! You must have a knack for bringing girls home and having people walk in on you getting steamy." Demi teased.

"Maybe everyone else just needs to learn to knock." Bradin quipped.

"Yeah, it's _our_ fault." Demi said sarcastically as the walked up to the house. "Hey, wanna help me break in the new board?"

"Sure." Bradin shrugged as they both went and got ready to go surfing.

P/S: Thanks so much to the reviewers, but I've got more than 400 more views than reviews, so don't just read, tell me what you think, too :D Please? Lol, I'll stop now.


	16. Chapter 16

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. Original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

A/N: Read and review, etc, etc, lol.

Chapter 16:

--

Just as Bradin and Demi were about to head out to go surfing, there was a knock on the door.

"I'll get it." Demi said. She opened the door to find Adam stood there, though she had not been expecting him.

"Hey." He said, smiling at her.

"Hey." She said back as he kissed her on the cheek.

"Was this a bad time?" He said, noticing she was dressed and ready to surf.

"Only if you didn't bring your surfing gear with you."

"Oops." He said, although smiling cheekily.

"Why don't you just meet us down at the beach?" Bradin called over from the patio doors.

"Yeah, that's a good idea." Demi agreed.

"Um, ok. I'll be down in 15 minutes, tops." He gave Demi a small kiss on the lips before leaving.

--Down at the beach--

Adam had only taken a little under ten minutes, and pretty soon the three of them were in the sea, riding waves. Of course, Bradin and Adam were far better than Demi, but she was still only learning.

"Ok, lets see how much you can do." Bradin told her.

Demi paddled out and rode a wave with ease, as she had been doing for the majority or the summer. However, Bradin managed to find faults.

"You need to make sure you pop up as fast as you can and keep your feet straight on the board." He told her when she paddled back. Bradin paddled out and showed her how to do it properly. When he came back, Adam paddled out and showed her how to properly ride the wave, too.

"You two just like undermining my achievements, don't you?" She joked. She swam out and paddled, making sure she checked the wave behind her every 2 seconds to make Bradin happy. She popped up on her board faster than she had ever done before and luckily managed not to lose her footing. She stood up, her feet straight as Bradin had told her. She stood up as straight as she could without wobbling and rode the wave perfectly, in her opinion.

"That was much better!" Bradin said when she paddled back.

"_Now, you want to try __this._" Bradin said paddling off. Adam gave her a quick kiss, something he had been dying to do, before they sat and watched Bradin. He rode popped up his board and began to ride the wave. Then he turned the board a little and rode up the wave before coming back down and continuing to ride it normally. This didn't look too hard. He paddled back in and let Adam demonstrate. She watched again as he rode the wave before flicking the board up slightly.

"Show me again." Demi said, a little nervous about dong the move herself. They both went out and did it again for her. First Bradin, then Adam. When they had both came back, Demi paddled out and caught a wave. She went to flick the board and ride up the wave, but chickened out at the last second. Yet again, Bradin and Adam took their turns. Demi watched, studying everything they did at every second. Once again it was her turn. Again, she popped up, rode the wave a little, then tried to turn her board. She moved it a few inches to the right, before it came left again and she rode the wave normally.

"You're just scared to move the board." Adam told her when she got back.

"Yeah, you just have to twist and try to make the board do what you want it to do." Bradin instructed. Bradin took his turn, executing the move perfectly, but Demi wasn't jealous, he had gone pro, after all. Adam executed the move perfectly, too. Now it was Demi's turn. She swam and caught the wave. She popped up expertly. She rode the wave and tried her best to turn the board. It turned about a ¼ of the amount she needed to ride up the wave. She paddled back. Bradin took his turn. Adam took his turn. Again, Demi watched for all the little things they did to get their board to obey them.

"Your turn." Adam said when he came back. She was determined now, and both Bradin and Adam could see it in her face.

I'm gunna do it this time." She said positively. She swam out and caught the wave with ease. She popped up, something she had become really good at doing, recently. She rode the wave until just the right moment when she'd try and turn. With everything she had, she turned. She lost her breath when she rode up the wave, fast. Maybe a little to fast. She went up through the air. She couldn't feel the water underneath her board anymore. She couldn't feel the board underneath her feet. Her arms and legs splayed out, she was in panic mode. She opened her mouth to scream, she was unsure whether any sound came out. She didn't feel herself hit back down in the water. She didn't feel a thing.

--A few hours later--

"She's set to make a full recovery." Everything was dark. Nothing could be seen, and her eyelids were too heavy to lift.

"Is she ok to come home?" It was Johnny's voice she could hear.

"This depends on when she wakes up." An unfamiliar voice told Johnny. She could hear a very faint 'beep… beep… beep.' It was starting to annoy her.

"Come on, wake up, this is all my fault!" It was Bradin's voice he heard now. She wanted to scream to them that she was awake, but the only thing she could do was listen.

"It wasn't your fault, sweetie." She heard Ava's voice say. Bradin sighed, knowing inside that it was, but not bothering to argue. Demi felt bad. She didn't know what Bradin was talking about, but it couldn't be his fault. As everything went quiet, Demi realised that her head was killing her.

"When do you expect she'll wake up?" Ava asked.

"It differs from person to person, but she should be awake within the next 2 or 3 hours." The unfamiliar voice said. Demi couldn't stand being able to hear but not see or speak for 2 or 3 whole hours. She had to let them know she was awake. She tried to clench her hand into a fist, her whole body seemed weak. Her fingers closed in towards her palm, but not quite meeting it. She felt her fingers rub against an itchy material. Her fingers moved in about an inch when she tried to clench a fist. She tried again, clenching, but not able to get her hand into a fully formed fist. She tried again, and again, repeatedly moving her fingers.

"Hey, she's moving." It was Adam, speaking for the first time. Hearing his voice made her want to wake up properly all the more. She moved her hands faster, the fastest she could, although this wasn't very fast. Her right eyelid was forcefully opened, and she saw a middle aged man shining a torch into her eye. The light made her head hurt.

"Hmm…" She moaned, trying her hardest to wriggle her head free, although she just rocked it left to right about a centimetre on each side. She saw the man in the white coat smile before letting go of her eyelid and letting it droop back into place.

"She is awake," He told them. "but she's still quite weak, so don't expect too much response from her. Now, I have to go see other patients but I'll be back soon to check on her." Demi couldn't believe she was in hospital and the reason she was there was baffling her.

"Remember, the doctor said she might not be able to remember what happened." Johnny said.

"Erm… Demi? Do you know what happened earlier? Uh, just squeeze your hand if you do." Bradin asked awkwardly. Demi let her hand lay still. "You can still move your hand, can't you?" Demi clenched her hand a few times in response.

The longer Demi was awake, the more she was able to do. Within 20 minutes, she could keep her eyes half open, but closed them for about 5 seconds at a time when she blinked. She could nod and shake her head ever so slightly and could now fully clench her hands. She saw that Johnny, Ava, Bradin and Adam were in the room but no one else. She began to get slightly annoyed how she could only answer questions but not ask them, as she had so many whirling around in her head. The last thing she remembers was answering the door to Adam earlier that day. She also realised that she was in a horrible hospital gown. It was white with blue spots and was unbearably itchy, especially the tie around the back of her neck. Demi's eyes opened a little wider when the doctor came back in the room.

"Hello, Demi." He said nicely, though talking to her as if she were a child. "How are you feeling?" Demi made a small moan, which was the most she could do vocally. The doctor went over and got a pitcher off a trolley beside the door and poured a glass of water. He put the plastic cup to Demi's lips and tilted it a bit. Demi sipped, although not all of it went in her mouth, though she didn't care, she couldn't look much worse. Her breathing became slightly easier as she drank. "Try and say something." The doctor instructed her. She said the question that had been on her mind since waking up.

"What… am I," she spluttered before coughing, her throat feeling like sand paper.

"Were you going to ask what you are doing here?" The doctor asked in his annoying, childish voice. She nodded her head. "You had a surfing accident and hit the water hard, before hitting some rocks rather hard as well. You were knocked unconscious when you hit the water, as it was like hitting concrete. You should be thankful these two young men were there to save you." Demi tried her best attempt at a smile, looking over at them. "You should be able to talk and move very soon." He turned to face everyone else. "Make sure she has plenty to drink." He said before leaving the room. Demi sighed.

"Do you want another drink?" Johnny asked. She nodded her head as best as she could. He held the cup to her lips. Once again a lot of it missed her mouth, but her throat felt slightly better, although painful when swallowing.

"I'm so sorry, Demi." Bradin said, speaking up for the first time in a while.

"Why?" She croaked.

"It was my fault, I told you to try a surf move when you weren't ready for it, and you went flying through the air."

"You really scared us." Adam told her.

"When can… I go." She coughed.

"We don't know yet, honey, but it shouldn't be too long. The doctor said you're set to make a full recovery and not too much damage was done. Nothing's broken, you were just knocked unconscious for a while." Ava told her.

"And you're going to feel like one, big bruise for a while." Johnny told her, smiling.

"Really?" She said as sarcastically as she could, although the croakiness of her voice made it less effective. She looked at them all and smiled. She was really tired and decided to go to sleep, hoping she'd be able to do a lot more when she woke up. "Night." She croaked, closing her eyes.


	17. Chapter 17

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. Original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

A/N: Sorry it's so short! I'll post the next one later to make up for it :D

Chapter 17:

--

Demi woke up, and this time only Adam was in the room. She pushed herself up until she was in a sitting position, her arms slightly achy, before realising how much more she could do than when she woke up earlier.

"Hey." She said to him, her throat still sore but less croaky. His face lit up when he saw she was awake again.

"Hey."

"How long was I asleep?" She asked.

"Well, you went to sleep at about half 6, and it's half 9 now, so 3 hours." She began to cough again, and Adam poured her a cup of water instinctively. She took it and could hold it to her own lips now, not spilling a single drop.

"Thanks. I wonder why I can do so much more now." Demi pondered.

"You were really sleepy from the pain killing drugs they gave you when you woke up earlier, you weren't supposed to wake up when you did." Adam told her.

"It's probably because I'm such a light sleeper, a pin dropping would wake me up." Demi told her, as she had told Nikki before. "Where is everyone?"

"They've all gone to get something to eat, they said they'd bring me something back. Um, I don't think they're bringing you anything, I mean they weren't sure you'd be able to eat it…"

"It's ok, I'm not hungry anyway. So what exactly happened?"

"Bradin tried to make you ride up a wave. At first you couldn't, then you tried as hard as you can and flew off it, then hit the water. We both swam over as fast as we could once we realised you weren't coming back up." He told her. "You really don't remember it?"

"The last thing I remember was answering the door to you." She said, thinking back, trying to remember more. "When can I go home? I feel fine now, and this gown is _really_ itchy." Adam smiled and gave a quiet laugh.

"Soon. The doctor said it depended on when you woke up, and you're awake now. I don't think they'll want to keep you in overnight, you should be able to do everything you could before soon, well, you might hurt a little more but that's it." Demi nodded. She raised her hand to scratch her head, where it had been itching for a while, when she noticed she had a big bandage on the side of her for head. "Oh, yeah, that's from when you hit your head off a rock. You were losing quite a bit of blood back there, you were making us worried, so if you feel woozy, you'll know why."

"There's never nice food in hospitals." Bradin said, walking through the door. "Hey, you're awake!" He smiled.

"I'm awake." Demi laughed.

"How are you feeling?" Ava asked, concerned.

"Fine. I just want to get out of here." She told her. "And this itchy gown!" She said frustrated, scratching behind her neck. At just that moment the doctor walked through the door.

"Hello, Miss King." He said, smiling at her. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better thanks. I should be able to go home soon, right?" Demi asked, wanting to get the question out as soon as possible.

"Pretty soon, there are just some things to do before you leave. I just need to check you over, see if you're ok."

After another half an hour getting checked and being prescribed some pain killers, she was allowed to leave. She felt quite dizzy when she stood up and walked, and when she turned her head too fast, but she tried not to show it, although the doctor knew anyway. She was sat in a wheelchair and wheeled out to the car park. They all piled into Johnny's car, Johnny helping Demi in before he got in himself. They dropped Adam off at home first then made their way back to the house.

"You probably want to go straight to bed, now, Demi." Johnny said after the car journey. She walked into the house, all of her joints suffering as she moved them, but she tried her best not to let it show, it would wear off pretty soon anyway. She walked until she got to the few stairs, leading down to the living room, Bradin's room and her own room. She hadn't yet confronted stairs, and could tell moving her knees that much would hurt a lot, seeing as her knees were hurting her the most. She held onto the banister and took a slow step, lowering herself down onto the next one.

"Ow." She said, quietly she hoped, so not to be heard.

"Are stairs too much for you?" Bradin asked, mocking her slightly as he hopped down them.

"Shut up, it's your fault." Demi said, knowing this would annoy him.

"Hey, I didn't…"

"Bradin, I'm kidding." She smirked, though she was still stuck on the first step. Bradin rolled his eyes at her.

"Here." He put an arm around the back of her knees and told her to wrap her arms around his neck. She did as she was told and he carried her to her room.

"You know, I don't think I've ever been carried like that so much in my life." She laughed as he put her down next to her bed.

"I really am sorry about all this." He said guiltily, knowing he was the cause of all the pain she was in.

"Hey, don't worry about it. I mean, Johnny was right about the one big bruise thing," She laughed, "but it will wear off soon. And if it means I have to take more time off school than the week I'm suspended for then I'll easily stop complaining about the pain." Bradin laughed a little at this too.

"Bradin?" Demi said, pulling back her covers and sitting in her bed as he turned to leave the room.

"Yeah?" He said, turning.

"Got a secret for me yet?" She grinned.

"Not really, my life's been pretty boring lately." He told her, giving a little laugh.

"Talk to me, I'm not even tired, I've just slept for ages, although most of it was involuntarily." She reminded him teasingly.

"Do you have to keep reminding me?" He said, although he knew she was joking. "Hey, did you tell Adam the secret?"

"Nope. And I don't think I'm gunna need to, well maybe I will need to later, but not now." She said happily. "How are things with you and Erika? You don't seem to talk about her much."

"I don't seem to see her much anymore." He said thoughtfully, looking quite sad. "When I was getting the sponsorship and everything, we had to sneak around, couldn't tell anyone about what we were doing. And for some reason, now… it doesn't feel as good as when we got together back then." He admitted guiltily. She'd never really heard Bradin talk this way before, it was like she was seeing a whole new side of him. She smiled a little. "What?"

"You finally told me a secret."

"I guess I did." He said, with a little chuckle.

"Do you still want to be with her?"

"I loved her from the moment I laid eyes on her, but now we're finally allowed to be a couple, it's like we're not even trying anymore."

"As soon as you're not breaking rules you're not having fun?" Demi laughed.

"Well not exactly when you put it like that, but that's kind of right."

"Why don't you _try_ again, put in an effort, before you decide to end it?" Demi suggested.

"That's not a bad idea." Bradin said, cheering up a little.

"Ya think?" She said sarcastically.

"Well, you may have gotten quite a bit of sleep through the day, but it doesn't mean the rest of us did. And I've got school in the morning. Night."

"Night."


	18. Chapter 18

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. Original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

A/N: By the way, I live in the UK, so my knowledge on American school stuff is limited, no matter how much I google it. This is why I don't write any surfboard move names or know when the holidays are, which I was kind of needing for this chapter but oh well, it still works. Lol. R&R

P/S: The first part of this chapter is what you would probably call fluff, lol.

Chapter 18:

--

Bradin, Nikki and Derrick had went and came back from school and now it was finally the weekend. Demi had woken up in agony on the morning, but was soon ok after taking her painkillers and had mastered the stairs now, so could do everything almost as normally as she could before. They had decided to have dinner on the beach, so everyone got to invite friends round. Of course, Demi invited Adam, Bradin invited Erika, Nikki invited Cam and Derrick invited Martha. Jay, Isabelle and Danny had also came, a small bump was now beginning to show on Isabelle's belly. They were all sat around the table, Colby was even there, and Johnny and Ava stood up, silencing the table almost immediately.

"Can we just have your attention for a moment, everyone?" Johnny asked happily.

"As you all know, Johnny and I have been a couple again for quite a while now, and so we've decided… we're getting married!" Ava cried joyfully. Everyone clapped and congratulated them.

"Is there a date for the wedding set yet, aunt Ava?" Nikki asked happily, as she had been trying to get Ava and Johnny back together for months before they finally did and them getting married now was just icing on the cake.

"Yes, it's going to be a week in November and we're going to stay in a nice hotel for the week, so you'll get a little bit of time out of school." Bradin, Demi, Nikki and Derrick all couldn't help but cheer, and Ava chuckled. The night went on and eventually people started to go home. Martha was predictably the first, and Ava used that opportunity to say something to Erika, Adam and Cam that she hadn't been able to say when she was there. "Hey, you're all invited to come and stay at the hotel with the rest of us, too, so if you two can get your parents to let you off school for the week," She said, looking at Adam and Cam, "you're more than welcome to come. And, besides, it's not like it would be a full school week, it's going to be the week that you're off for Thanksgiving." She said with a grin. They all went back over to Bradin, Demi and Nikki to tell them the good news.

"Do you think you'll be able to get time off school?" Demi asked Adam, as they walked hand in hand back up to the house, leaving everyone back on the beach.

"Probably, seeing as it's a wedding and all. My parents are pretty cool with this stuff sometimes, but other times they nag about my education and stuff." Adam explained.

"But they know you're a straight A student, right?"

"Yeah, but they're… how do you know that?" Adam asked curiously. A smile was starting to appear on Demi's lips as she walked ahead slightly, Adam being dragged by the hand as she walked. He suddenly grabbed hold of her by the hips, kissing her quickly on the lips, and coming out of it far too soon to tease Demi. "How did you know that?" He asked, holding her close, partly so she couldn't escape, partly because he was dying to kiss her again.

"Everyone told me. Britney, Bradin. You didn't even need my notes, did you? Well, I guess I could forgive you since you were _dying_ to see me." She said, over exaggerating to tease him. He kissed her playfully on the lips.

"Well, at least you know why I did it." She laughed as they continued to kiss, before Demi took Adam into the house and brought him into her room, so they weren't in full view of everyone down at the beach. He pinned her wrists down next to her head, laying her on the bed as he kissed her passionately. She could feel his smile against her lips, and she was pretty sure he could feel hers, too. The playful kisses became more serious. Their lips pulled apart as Adam started kissing Demi's jaw line and neck, moving slowly down to her collar bone before moving back up again. This was the first time Demi had ever done anything like this and she loved it, small gasps of pleasure escaping her mouth uncontrollably every now and then. He stopped for a moment and smiled at her, gazing deep into her eyes, and she into his, before pulling him closer to her by his shirt until their lips met again. She broke the kiss once again after letting it linger for a while, and rested her head on her pillows, panting a little, but grinning from ear.

"Adam?" She asked, looking up at him as he still held himself up with his arms.

"Yeah?" Demi felt awkward about asking the next question, knowing that she would be asked it back.

"How many girlfriends have you had?" Her lips were relaxed now from the grin she had just had on her face, but the corners of her lips still twitched. Adam loved when she smiled like that.

"A few." He said, shrugging, not seeing it as an important question.

"And how many is a few?" She asked teasingly as he was about to go in for another kiss.

"I've had 4 serious relationships." He answered, as though answering a question asked by a teacher, acting as good as gold. She granted him the kiss he had wanted to give her and she played with his gorgeous, dark brown hair.

"What about you?" He asked after a minute or so. She bit her lip, wondering whether to answer the question. He loved the way she looked so sexy doing the littlest of things. She decided to try and avoid the question and kissed him again with as much passion as she could. Adam happily obliged, but broke apart sooner than usual. "Hey, I answered!" He laughed. She simply leaned up and tried to kiss him again. "Avoiding the question, are we?" He asked teasingly.

"Fine." She said defeated, giving him a mock evil glare.

"I always win." He said smugly, staring down at her.

"I've had less than you." She said simply, grinning.

"How many?" He asked, also grinning.

"Less than your 4." She laughed. He tickled her and she squirmed, laughing uncontrollably.

"Tell me!" He laughed, mostly laughing at the quite high pitched, little girl laugh that she only did when tickled.

"Ok! Stop… stop tickling!" She laughed. He looked down at her expectantly. "Before you…" The smile on her face slowly disappeared as she spoke. "There… there wasn't any before you, Adam." She said seriously now. His eyes widened ever so slightly.

"Really?" He didn't sound as if he thought she was a freak, just casually curious. She looked away from his eyes and nodded. "Hey, what's wrong?" He asked, putting a finger under her chin and making her eyes level with his again.

"Nothing, it's just… a big secret. A bad secret. And now you probably think I'm a freak." She wasn't crying at all, just sad and angry with herself.

"No I don't." He said simply. She looked up at him, her eyebrows furrowed a little.

"Really? Not even a little bit?" She asked curiously. He shook his head.

"There's loads of people our age who haven't had boyfriends and stuff, and people older, too. Doesn't mean there's anything wrong with them. Did you actually think that?" He asked sitting up a little. She averted his eyes again. "God, girls really do worry about everything, don't they?" He said jokingly, though meaning what he'd said.

"Hey!" She sat up a little herself and started having a little play fight, holding each others hands and seeing who could push the other down.

Demi won and this time she held his hands beside his head, kissing him again happily.

--The next day--

Demi awoke to a very happy and chirpy family, all talking about the wedding. Demi made herself some cereal before sitting down and listening in.

"Are you going to design your own dress again?" Susannah asked, smiling.

"I don't know, I might do, but part of me thinks it'll be easier to just buy it like everyone else, since the wedding is so soon." Ava answered.

"So, who's your maid of honour and bridesmaids, etc." Demi asked.

"Well, Susannah is my maid of honour, of course, and I want you and Nikki to be bridesmaids." Ava beamed at her. Demi's face broke into a grin.

"Really?" She asked, as she hadn't expected to be asked.

"Of course. I want all my family and closest friends around me, and your part of the family now Demi, so of course I want you as a bridesmaid." Demi got up and hugged Ava. She loved living in this house, being a part of this family, she'd never felt so happy and felt like she belonged somewhere as much, especially with her mom.

"What about the best man, etc?" Demi queried.

"Jay is going to be Johnny's best man, Derrick is going to be ring bearer and Bradin's going to walk me down the isle. You don't have any plans with Adam or anyone today, do you, Demi?"

"Nope."

"Good, because we're going shopping for dresses today." Ava told her with a smile.

--Later in the bridal shop--

"I'm not wearing that, Aunt Ava, it's too frilly!" Nikki complained, turning down yet another dress. The dress was actually quite nice, in Demi's opinion. It only had the tiniest little frills, at the bottom and top where it started and finished. It was a silvery white strapless dress, going down to just below the knees. Ava held up another dress. It was white, with little frills just at the top of the dress. It had tiny light blue straps and a light blue ribbon just below the bust. "I'm not sure I like that one either." She said.

"What about this?" Ava asked, trying her best to smile. It was a strapless white dress with no frills that went straight down to the feet with a black tie around the middle going down to the shin area.

"It's ok, but I think we should look at others first." They'd nearly been through the whole shop, Nikki finding faults in every dress.

"What about this one?" Ava asked again, this time with a different dress. It was a 50s style, strapless, satin dress. It came in a variety of colours but white and a very light pink were best. It also had a black line around the top of the dress with a little black bow.

"It's nice. But I want to check them all first." Nikki smiled. Ava rolled her eyes. Her mouth dropped slightly. "This one!" She said, rushing over to the dress. It was beautiful. It was satin, strapless, deep beige-coloured with no frills and had an old lace coloured, large ribbon around the waist, falling down to just above the ankles. The ribbon was also silk and was frill-free.

"I like it." Ava smiled. "It's a good colour, won't clash with the wedding dress, and it's beautiful. What do you think, Demi?"

"I think it's great!" Demi said, admiring the dress.

"Would you like to try it on?" The sales assistant asked Nikki and Demi. Of course, they both said yes and rushed into the changing rooms. Demi hastily stripped off her clothes and got into the dress. There was no problems with it, no stuck zippers, nothing. It fit like a glove and felt like it had been made especially for her. It hugged her figure in all the right places and she couldn't help but stare in the mirror for a while, before being asked if she was ready yet. She walked out and saw Nikki in the dress. It fit her perfectly, too, and they both admired their reflections. Ava put her hands to her mouth and gasped, becoming teary eyed.

"You both look beautiful." She said, her eyes glazing over with the tears. "We'll definitely take them." Ava told the shop assistant confidently, who happily went over to the till, grateful of making a sale. Reluctantly, Nikki and Demi got changed out of their dresses and back into their clothes.


	19. Chapter 19

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. Original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

A/N:

Chapter 19:

--

The next few days flew by and before she knew it, Demi's suspension had ended and she had to go back to school, something she wasn't very happy about. She got ready and dressed in a denim skirt and an aqua polo shirt. After they'd all had breakfast they were ready to go.

"Uh, I wish I didn't have to go back." Demi moaned, as they pulled up outside Derrick's school.

"Well, you do." Johnny said simply to annoy her.

"I'd just like to see Courtney again, see how she looks now." An evil grin crossed her face. "I mean, makeup can only cover so much." They said bye to Derrick and drove to PLH in near-silence for the rest of the car journey. As usual, Nikki ran over to meet Cam and Amber and Demi walked with Bradin to his table. She couldn't see Lea and the other girls around and she knew two people on the surfer table.

"Hey." Adam said smiling as they approached. "Excited about being back at school?" He joked, putting his arms around her waist.

"If only I could share your enthusiasm for this place." She quipped before kissing him sweetly on the lips.

"Hey, Adam, whose your girl?" One of the lads with spiky, light brown hair asked, checking Demi out.

"I'm Demi." She told him, as he continued to look her up and down, not caring that she was watching him.

"She's the one who beat up Courtney." Bradin laughed. They all realised who she was, sounding impressed.

"I was wondering who the hot chick scrapping on the floor was." The guy with the spiky, light brown hair said, making Demi feel uncomfortable again.

"Shut up, Matt." Adam told him, holding Demi closer. The bell rang at just that moment, so they walked to their maths class together, hands intertwined.

"Hey, Demi." Demi turned to see a grinning Lea and Britney as they neared their maths class. "You don't mind if we borrow Demi for a sec, do you Adam?" Lea asked, smiling sweetly.

"Not at all." He smiled. "See you in class." He said as he walked off, waiting until their arms had extended a little, but not fully, before he let go of her hand.

"What's up?" She asked, turning to face them, though she obviously knew what was coming.

"First of all:" Britney started, before both she and Lea let out a little squeal. "You're meeting Adam Carter!" Demi laughed and looked back at him grinning at her. "And second: We'd like to say well done for kicking Courtney's ass last week, since we didn't get chance to tell you it then." Demi laughed again.

"Well, thank you." She joked.

"Get to class, girls." A passing teacher told them.

"I'll tell you guys all about it at lunch. See you later." She said, joining Adam in Maths.

Sadly for Demi, Courtney wasn't in any of her classes before lunch, so she had an extra reason to look forward to lunch. She breathed a sigh of relief when it finally came. She sat down at the table and retold the story of when she beat Courtney and what happened after.

"… so I had to sit through ten minutes of her snivelling and sobbing in the corner, I swear I would've hit her again if the principle wasn't there."

"Really?" Demi turned to see a face she loathed, but her face lit up when she saw her. Makeup could cover little bruises, but the scratches, bumps and big bruises were quite visible, to Demi's delight, and the fact that her new hair extensions had clearly been put in wrong and looked a mess was just icing on the cake.

"Hey, Courtney. I think one or two of them injuries can't even be seen through all the makeup." Demi quipped.

"_Hmm.__"__ Courtney gave a humourless laugh. __"__I just came over here to remind you, that I __will_ get you back. But I guess you'll just have to wait and see how. And, by the way, I kicked it up a notch when I realised you and Adam were together, even though I told you specifically to stay away. Of course, he should soon come to his senses, nobody knows why he's with you." Courtney retaliated.

"And what does 'come to his senses' mean? I seriously hope you don't mean that he should be your boyfriend instead, because FYI he can't stand you." Demi snorted.

"It's kind of cute how much crap he's got you believing." Courtney said, resorting to her signature evil glare, as she moved closer to Demi, trying to seem threatening.

"Break it up, you two!" It was the bright blonde, bobbed haired English teacher. Courtney and the Cling-on's continued with their evil glares as they strutted out of the hall.

"Do any of you have any idea what Courtney's 'big plan' is to get me back? Because it's been kind of an empty threat so far." All of the girls simply shrugged, then asked to hear the rest of the story, telling her not to skip a single detail where Adam was concerned.

--After school--

"We're home!" Demi called as she opened the door, Bradin and Adam behind her. The house remained silent, it seemed they had it to themselves, seeing as Nikki was staying after school in one of her numerous after school clubs. "What do you guys wanna do?" She asked, breaking a small silence once they were all in the house.

"I dunno, why don't we go surfing?" Adam suggested, smirking a little at the look Demi shot at him.

"Hello, I'm still a walking-talking bruise." Demi reminded him. Adam and Bradin laughed as they made their way into the living room, Adam and Bradin slumping down onto the sofa and Demi lowering herself carefully, since this stuff was still painful to her.

"When is the pain gunna go?" Adam asked curiously after the long moment it took her to join him on the sofa.

"Soon, hopefully. It's not as bad as it was, but it's still painful." Demi said, resting her head on him when he put her arm around him. "I can't wait for the wedding. Have you asked whether you can get the week off yet?" she asked Adam.

"Yeah, my parents are cool with it since it's a wedding and everything." Adam replied, gently stoking up and down her arm with the back of his fingers.

"What's the hotel called that we're staying at." Bradin said nothing, but he was pretty bad at keeping a straight face where secrets were concerned, sometimes. "You know something." Demi said, suspiciously.

"I do, but it's a nice surprise for everyone." Bradin said simply.

"How do you know what it is?" Demi inquired.

"Because… because aunt Ava needed to dip into the money I earned from pro surfing and sponsors. I'm secretly pretty loaded. They gave me like 50,000 dollars for one session of hand shaking, smiling and autographs, and trust me, I did a LOT of publicity event things. It was like I was giving aunt Ava some loose change. But as I said, it's a secret, but don't worry, you'll love it." Demi decided to drop it, wanting to wait and be surprised.

"Hey, do either of you guys have any ideas what Courtney's big revenge plan is." They both shook their heads. "She keeps on going on about it, but still nothing. It's starting to get annoying."

"Hey, at least if she tried to pull something you know that you can always just beat her up." Adam said playfully. She tapped him gently with her hand, too relaxed to have done it any harder if she tried.

"Uh, I wish I was still suspended, I can't believe how much homework I got today." Demi complained.

"Me, too. But since Adam is your guest, I guess I can go and get on with it now and have it over and done with." Bradin grinned, getting up and leaving the room.

"I wonder where everyone is." Demi said curiously.

"You know, most people would enjoy the time that no one else is in the house." Adam said, grinning.

"Why, did you have something in mind?" Demi said teasingly.

"Oh, yeah. But it's probably easier to show you than explain." Demi gave a little laugh, before locking lips with Adam as she had been wanting to do for a while.

--10 minutes later--

"Hello, other people live here other than just you, y'know!" Demi quickly unattached herself from Adam, who was now laying on top of her, kissing her passionately, to tilt her head straight back and see Nikki, upside down, above her.

"I didn't even hear you come in!" Demi said, sitting herself up as Adam got off her.

"Too consumed in other matters?" Nikki asked smirking, raising her eyebrow.

"Ha ha, very funny." Demi replied as she stood up. "Hey, Nik, do you know where everyone is? This place is practically deserted."

"Johnny and Jay went to look for tux's and Ava and Susannah went to find something for Susannah to wear." Nikki replied, pouring herself a glass of milk. "Hey, Demi, could you help me pick out something to wear tonight, I'm going round Cam's." Demi raised an eyebrow at her.

"And what will you and Cam be _doing_ tonight?" Demi asked as she and Adam sat on the stools in the kitchen.

"Just hanging out." Nikki shrugged. She sighed after another long moment of being stared at by Demi. "I don't know if anything, you know, _big_ is going to happen tonight."

"Does your aunt know that you're going to Cam's tonight? Because you know I'll wake up if you sneak out in the middle of the night again." Demi asked seriously. Adam had been giving slightly confused looks but was starting to catch up.

"I haven't told her yet, but you could just tell her for me, right?" Nikki asked, giving a hopeful smile.

"Nikki, you know I can't do that to Ava. She just wants to know where you are so she can keep you safe."

"And she _will_ know where I am if you tell her! Come on, Demi, you're the one who gave me all the advice about Cam and everything, you should understand."

"Nikki, you and Cam can't be out doing stuff every night, you know." Demi said seriously.

"Fine, I'll tell aunt Ava!" Nikki said huffily, making her way up the stairs.

"What's all that about?" Adam asked, wanting to know the full story.

"She wants to go out with her boyfriend, Cam. They slept together for the first time the other day, and I just don't want her to be doing it every night, especially if she sneaks out again."

"How old is she?" Adam asked.

"15." Demi replied, giving a little sigh.

"Wow, does Bradin know? God, I feel sorry for him if he does, no older brother needs to know that."

"Well sadly Bradin does."

"Hey, do you have any brothers or sisters?" Demi asked, only just realising that she didn't know.

"I've got a brother who's 24, a sister who's 14 and a sister who's 12." He told her. "What about you?"

"Only child." She told him with a sad smile. "My mother hated me to death, she didn't want any more kids." They sat in silence for a moment, before Demi questioned Adam again. "What are your brother and sisters names?" Demi asked after rattling her brains slightly for something to say.

"My brothers names Matt, oldest sister's Sydney and youngest is Beth." Adam told her. "I know how Bradin must feel though, I had to go through the same thing with Sydney."

"Really?" Demi asked, raising her eyebrows. "What happened? I mean, what was it like, for you and everything." Demi was curious, wanting an insight into what Bradin must be feeling.

"Sydney's a pretty girl and guys are always all over her, which is kinda hard to watch. But she'd been going out with this one guy, Greg, for about a month when she was 13. And I came home late from my ex's and went to see if anyone else was in the house. I walked right in on them. Trust me, it's not easy to realise your sister isn't the little angel she makes you think she is. I mean, I knew she loved all the guy attention, but it's still hard to see her in bed with one of them." Adam said uncomfortably.

"Bradin isn't really looking at Nikki much anymore, were you the same?"

"Yup, and for a while, too. But after a month or two I got over it, I realised it was bound to happen someday and that she's human just like you or me and I started acting normal with her again." Adam smiled a little as he said this. Demi smiled too, comforted by the thought that she hadn't split up two close siblings for good. She leaned over and kissed him softly on the lips, smiling as she did so.

"Thanks." She said, resting her forehead against his and becoming lost in his eyes again.

"I think you can thank me a little more than that." Adam said playfully, pulling her so that she stood up from her stool, pulling her by her hips so that their bodies were as close as possible and kissing her again, more romantically this time, a kiss that lingered, and lingered, and lingered…


	20. Chapter 20

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. Original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

A/N: Hope you enjoy it, be prepared for something a little new in the storyline. Mwahaha :D And please review this chapter, first time writing something like this and I need feedback and criticism!

Chapter 20:

--

Demi and Adam had a good half hour alone on the sofa this time before being interrupted again, this time by Bradin finishing his homework. They sat and talked for about ten minutes before everyone came home again. Adam waited until he and Demi were alone again before asking the question he'd wanted to ask for a while.

"Demi?" He asked, once they were alone again in Demi's room.

"Yeah?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to go out tonight, to a restaurant or something. You know, our first date without water?" Adam asked with a little laugh. Demi smiled broadly.

"Sure. What time?"

"Um, it's 5:30 now, how about 7?" He asked. Demi nodded her head, a little enthusiastically.

"Great, I'll come by at about quarter to and pick you up, but I've gotta go now." Adam told her, getting up to leave.

"What, you gotta freshen up for me?" Demi smirked, before Adam leaned in for a goodbye kiss.

"I'm just a book to you, aren't I?" Adam laughed. "Well, you sure do read me like one." He gave her another soft kiss and left.

--At 6:40--

Adam hadn't told Demi where they would be going, so she had no idea how to dress. She decided to wear something semi-formal, that wouldn't look too over the top if they went somewhere casual. She ended up wearing her black dress, with a white rim around the arms and bottom and a white line across the top of the thighs and across the bust with a little bow. She was worried that she looked a little too formal, even though she'd bought the dress as semi formal, but decided she didn't care. She was dressing to look good for Adam, not everyone else.

"You look nice." Ava complimented her as she walked into the front room. She looked down at herself and had to ask the question.

"It's not too much, is it?" She bit her lip.

"You look perfect, and no, it's not too much." Johnny said, smiling.

"Thanks." She said with a relieved sigh and a smile.

"You look nice, Demi, where are…" Nikki began, walking down the stairs from her room. She was interrupted by a knock on the door, which she was first to answer. "Demi, Adam's here." Nikki said, grinning, her question suddenly answered. Demi quickly looked at her watch. 6:45. He was right on time. Se smiled as she walked to the door, saying goodbye to everyone and being led to Adam's Renault Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet.

"Nice car." Demi said, impressed. Adam smiled as he opened the passenger door for her. She looked him up and down. He was wearing dark jeans and a black button down shirt. She could tell he'd tried to make an effort, too, with every aspect of his appearance. She smiled to herself as he walked round the car to his door.

"Thanks, this car's my baby." He told her proudly, running his hands over the steering wheel.

"Your car's your baby?" Demi asked with a mock-shock face.

"After you." He laughed, smiling seductively before kissing her. They broke apart and he started the engine.

"So, where are we going?"

"You'll see." He told her, backing out of the driveway. Demi turned on the radio and started flicking through the stations. She was just about to flick past another station when a song she loved began to play.

"_I was riding shotgun with my hair undone in the front seat of his car.__"_Demi sang._"__He has a one-hand feel on the steering wheel, the other on my, heart__…"_Demi laughed as Adam changed the position he sat in to suit the song. _"__I look around, turn the radio down, he says __'__Baby is something wrong?__'__ I say __'__nothing, I was just thinking how we don__'__t have a song.__'__ And he said.__"_

"_**Our song is the slamming screen door,**_" Demi hadn't expected Adam to sing too and laughed. _**"**__**Sneaking out late tapping on-your-window, when we**__**'**__**re on the phone and you talk **__**real**__** slow, **__**'**__**cos it**__**'**__**s late and your mama don**__**'**__**t know. Our song is the way you laugh, the first date, man I didn**__**'**__**t kiss**__**…"**_ Demi pointedly sang 'him'. _**"**__**And I should have. And when I got home, **__**'**__**fore I said **__**'**__**Amen**__**'**__**, asking God if he, could play it again.**__**"**_Demi laughed through the little instrumental breaking up the chorus and verse, whilst dancing a little in her seat.

"_I was walking up the front porch steps after everything that day. Had gone all wrong, been trampled on, and lost and thrown a-way__…__ Got to the hallway, well on my way, to my loving bed. I almost didn__'__t notice all the roses and a note that, said__…"_

"_**Our song is the slamming screen door,**_ _**sneaking out late tapping on-your-window, when we**__**'**__**re on the phone and you talk **__**real**__** slow, **__**'**__**cos it**__**'**__**s late and your mama don**__**'**__**t know. Our song is the way you laugh, the first date, man I didn**__**'**__**t kiss**__**…"**_ Demi pointedly sang 'him' again. _**"**__**And I should have. And when I got home, **__**'**__**fore I said **__**'**__**Amen**__**'**__**, asking God if he, could play it again.**__**"**_Demi danced in her seat again, making Adam laugh through the instrumental. _"__Da da da-da__…__ I__'__ve heard every album listened to the radio, waiting for something to come along__…__ That was as good as our song__…__'__Cos our song is the slamming screen door, sneaking out late tapping on-his-window, when we__'__re on the phone and you talk __real__ slow, __'__cos it__'__s late and his mama don__'__t know. Our song is the way he laughs, the first date, man, I didn__'__t kiss him and I should have, and when I got home, __'__fore I said __'__Amen__'__, asking God if he, could play it again__…__ play it again__…__ oh yeah, uh oh yeah. I was riding shotgun with my hair undone in the front seat of his car. I grabbed a pen and an old napkin and I wrote down our song.__"_Adam looked at her, smiling. He didn't know she had such an amazing singing voice, and loved the way she danced and looked so cute when she sang, like the way she'd scrunch up her curled brown hair when she sang '_with my hair undone_.'

"You never told me you were such an amazing singer." Adam praised her.

"Thanks, but I'm not that good." Demi laughed.

"Yes you are. He argued with a smile as they pulled up to a stop light. Demi rolled her eyes.

"You were really good, too." She complimented, smiling. "So how far away is this place?" Demi asked, not wanting to sit through an awkward silence.

"We'll be there soon." Adam smiled.

"And I'm not over-dressed, under-dressed…?"

"You're perfect." He said, quickly turning and giving her a smile before focussing on the road again. They sat listening to the radio for the rest of the journey, most of it silent except for some singing, but it was strangely not awkward, they were both just happy to be together, be so close to each other, not needing to say a word.

--About 10 minutes later--

Adam had made Demi close her eyes about 30 seconds ago for the rest of the journey. She laughed and obeyed, and soon felt the car come to a stop and Adam holding her hand, guiding her out of the car while she still had her eyes closed.

"Oh my God." Demi exclaimed, staring up at the amazing restaurant before her once Adam had removed his hands from her eyes.

"Like it?" Adam asked. She looked at him with her mouth slightly open.

"Like it? I love it! But are we sneaking out after they serve the bread or something?" Demi joked.

"Very funny. Now come on, we've got dinner reservations." Adam said, taking Demi's hand and walking into the restaurant.

"Welcome to _Ocean and Vine_, do you have a dinner reservation?" The greeter asked.

"Yeah, it's Carter." Adam told him.

"Right this way." He said routinely, smiling at them. They were taken to their seats and given menu's.

"Thank you." Demi said sweetly as he began to walk away. "God, this place is beautiful." Demi said, looking around and admiring it.

"It's not the most beautiful thing tonight, though." Adam said, sounding incredibly cheesy. Demi laughed.

"How long have you had that line planned for?" She joked.

"A while." He said, also joking, the corners of his mouth twitching.

"Thank you." Demi said more seriously and grateful after a moment.

"I'm glad you like it. Now lets pick a starter before the waiter comes." Adam said, looking down at his menu. The waiter arrived a few minutes later.

"We'll both have the seasonal soup, please." Adam ordered. The waiter nodded and walked off. "I hope you don't mind, service is quite slow here sometimes." He told Demi.

"It's fine." Demi said, smiling again, putting a lock of hair behind her ear. Adam smiled straight back, gazing into her eyes. They stayed like that, looking directly at each other for a long moment, before Demi gave a small laugh and looked down at the table, before looking up and smiling cheekily. "What is it?" She asked, knowing there was something on his mind.

"Nothing." She raised an eyebrow, still giving a cheeky smile. "Really, it's nothing, I'm just glad we're finally here, after all the times I wished we were."

"Adam, you really are the sweetest and nicest guy any girl could ask for." She told him, taking his hand from across the table. Their starters came 5 minutes later and they began eating.

--Later--

After they had had their meal and a few minutes of kissing in front of the restaurant, they were back in the car, about to head home.

"Thanks so much for tonight." Demi said gratefully. She loved the way she felt around him, how special he made her feel.

"I'm glad you had a good time." They smile at each other for a moment, before Demi leaned over in her seat and kissed Adam softly on the lips. They broke apart, but Demi still leaned over Adam.

"I love you." She told him, her hands softly placed on his cheeks as she began getting lost in his eyes once again.

"I love you, too." He said, staring straight back at her, before kissing her again. "I'd love to stay like this forever," Adam laughed after a few minutes, "but if we don't start the engine now we'll never get home." Demi laughed and sat back in her seat properly, buckling her seatbelt. They drove for a little while, in near silence except for the radio, stealing little glances at each other every so often, and laughing a little once they caught each other looking. It wasn't too long before they pulled up at a beautiful big house. "It's kinda weird to think this is the first time you've came to my house."

"Yeah I know, you're always at mine. Are you ashamed of showing me to your family or something." Demi joked.

"You caught me." He said sarcastically. "But seriously, I'm more ashamed of showing my family to you." He walked with her into the house, hand in hand, before pulling out his keys and unlocking the front door. "No ones home at the moment."

"Where is everyone?" Demi smiled, looking around the beautifully decorated front room.

"Mom and dad are at a friends wedding, and they had to fly to India, so I'm in charge of the house. Sydney's round her boyfriends house and Beth's round her friends house." He told her, walking into the kitchen. "Want anything to drink?"

"I'm fine. So, do I get a grand tour of the house or something?" Demi smiled.

"This is the kitchen." Adam said mockingly, gesturing his hands. Demi threw him a ha-ha-very-funny look. He smiled and took her hand, leading her through the house. "Front room…" They made their way up the stairs. "Landing… parent's room, Sydney's room, Beth's room." He said, pointing at them. "And the most important room," he began walking back, pulling her with him. "My room." She looked around as she stepped through the door. The walls were a plain white. There was a double bed with dark blue bedding, a bedside table, a computer desk at the end with a black spinning chair, shelves with a few books on, like Demi has in her room, a wardrobe and a long set of drawers with a TV on and random things here and there. Before Demi could say anything, Adam had already pulled her close, wrapping one arm around her waist and the other running itself through her hair. She put her hands on the back of his neck, running the through his hair. The kiss was so passionate, more so than it had ever been. Everything seemed urgent, yet they weren't rushing, wanting to savour every last moment. The whole night had felt like it was building to this point.

(A/N: You might want to make sure there is no parents, etc in the room if you are a younger reader.)

Their lips broke apart, but they stayed where they were, wanting to be as close to each other as possible. They stared into one another's eyes. It was like they made a mutual, unspoken agreement, both of them full aware of what was about to happen. Demi was amazed that she wasn't at all unsure, not having any doubts in her mind. Adam kissed her again, softly on the lips, before working his way down her jaw line and to her neck. Demi loved the thrill she felt of going into uncharted territories, gasping every time he touched her, feeling like she had never felt before. Adam pushed one of the straps off her shoulder, kissing it tenderly. He kissed up her neck and behind her ear, pulling down the zip on the back of her dress. She undid the buttons of his shirt while he did this. He pulled his arms out and threw the shirt on the floor when she'd finished and pulled her dress off, so she was left stood in her underwear, kissing him with as much passion as she could muster as she undid his belt while Adam walked towards her, backing her up to the bed. He backed her up until she was forced to sit down and she pulled off his trousers. Adam quickly opened his bedside table pulling out a condom, which Demi could only partially see through the dark. Demi moved herself back slowly until she was at the top of the bed. Adam climbed onto her, pushing her back against the pillows and attaching himself once more to her lips. After a lingering kiss, he broke apart they broke apart, looking at her seriously.

"Are you sure?" He whispered caringly. She nodded her head and whispered 'yeah' back. She sat up a little as he unhooked the back of her bra, throwing it carelessly onto the floor, before kissing down her chest and torso, reaching her underwear and finally taking them off, leaving her fully naked. Adam had to waste no time to get an erection, seeing as it had been there for a while. Within minutes Adam was just as naked as Demi was, thrusting into her, both of them moaning and groaning in pleasure. They'd finally taken their love to a new level, fulfilling a want, no, a need they'd had for a while now, and loving the satisfaction.

P/S: The song used earlier was 'Our song' by Taylor Swift, _italic_ was Demi and **_bold and italic _**was Demi and Adam. Lol finally just said what the hell and wrote this, review and tell me what you thought!


	21. Chapter 21

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. Original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

A/N: A nice long one :D I thought I'd be kind.

Chapter 21:

_--_

The quilt was wrapped around Demi's naked body tightly. Her eyes fluttered as she woke up. She looked beside her. Adam even looked gorgeous when he slept. A silly grin crept onto her face as memories of the previous night came flooding into her head. She looked around the floor, seeing hers and Adam's clothes scattered here and there. She laid back against the pillows and gave a little sigh and smiled. She couldn't believe how great yesterday had been. She wondered whether she should tell Lea and the girls at school…

_School_

"Shit!" Demi sat up straight, waking Adam with a start.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Adam asked. The longer he was awake, the bigger the grin on his face was, as the previous night came flooding through his mind, too.

"Adam, we have school today, and if Ava and Johnny find out I slept here last night they'll freak. What time is it?"

"Um, 6:30." Adam said, turning and looking at the bedside table. Demi eyes widened as she scrambled out of bed, picking up her clothes and putting them on as fast as she could. Adam did the same and soon they were both running down the stairs and heading for the door. "Where's my car keys?" He asked, looking for them frantically.

"Here!" Demi said, picking them up off the kitchen counter.

"Lets go!" They ran out to the car and started up the engine as fast as possible. Demi had no hope of getting back on time if she walked. They stopped outside the house within 3 minutes, thanks to Adam creeping over the speed limit slightly. Demi leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the lips.

"I had a great time last night. See you in school!" She said, rushed, making Adam laugh a little before he drove off. She knew she couldn't just walk through the front door, but luckily her room was Jay's old room, so you could get to it from outside. She sneaked around the house and crept through the door as quietly as she could, turning the handle slowly, wishing the spring wouldn't creak as she turned the handle.

"We were worried sick." Demi spun round and saw Ava and Johnny sat on Demi's bed. Johnny was the one who had spoke and, boy, did he look angry.

"Uh… I…" It was useless for Demi to try and explain or make an excuse, they all knew fine well what had happened. "I'm sorry." She said finally, looking down at her feet, wanting to avoid their eyes and letting her hair fall down, covering her burning red cheeks.

"We understand that you're growing up, but next time you decide to pull a stunt like this, at least give us a call. I can't believe you stayed out on a school night, at a boys house, we had the same thing happen with Nikki the other day and now you go and do the same thing, what example are you setting to her?" Ava fumed, nostrils flaring.

"I know, I'm sorry, it was a one-time thing, it won't happen again." Demi apologised, wanting the lecture to go by as fast as possible. Ava sighed,

"I know you and Adam love each other, and you're growing up and you want more freedom, but while you're in this house you shall follow certain rules. I'm not saying you're not allowed to see Adam, I just want you to stick to a curfew and always let us know where you're going or what you're doing if you pass it. Please, Demi, never pull anything like this again." And with that, they left the room, leaving the door open.

"Wow, the 'I know you're growing up' speech." Demi looked to the door, startled. Bradin was leaning against the door frame with his arms folded, grinning, before walking into the room. "I'm surprised she didn't ask 'were you safe?'." He smirked, he loved making Demi cringe.

"What are doing in here? Why were you listening at the door?" Demi asked, sitting on her bed.

"You don't find out any good gossip if you don't eavesdrop a little. And, besides, I wanted to hear what they had to say to you. It's not fair, really, they always give me loads worse. So, have fun last night?" Bradin laughed.

"You know, this conversation is _so_ comfortable." She said sarcastically.

"What? I can't be curious to how a friends big first time went?" Demi picked up a pillow and covered her face, cringing. "Ok, sorry, I'll stop." Bradin chuckled. "I thought you'd be clever enough to come home, though."

"It wasn't really planned, it just… happened." Demi said, praying that she wouldn't smile about it in front of Bradin.

"I'm not trying to make you cringe by saying this but, seriously, were you safe?"

"Yeah, of course." Demi said quickly.

"And you 'coincidentally' had protection." Bradin said with a smirk.

"Adam probably had them in case he ever needed them." Bradin gave her a come-on-get-real look. "Ok, fine, maybe he had an inkling that last night might happen but he knew that I might have said no, so it wasn't really planned."

"Just prepared for." Bradin smirked.

"You know what I mean!" She said, throwing a pillow at him. "Anyway, I've gotta get ready for school."

"You'd better be quick, you don't have much time left, seeing as you normally start getting ready a lot earlier, but seeing as you decided to stay at Adam's…"

"Out!" Demi said, pushing him towards the door as he chuckled.

--At school--

"Hey." Demi said with a grin when she and Bradin walked up to the surfer table. She put her arms around Adam's neck and kissed him, knowing they were both thinking of the previous night and could feel one another's smile as they kissed.

"Something's up with you two." Matt said, the surfer who had made Demi feel uncomfortable on numerous occasions.

"No, not much." Bradin said, fighting back a grin.

"Shut up, Matt." Adam said, taking Demi's hand and walking into school to wait for class.

--At lunch--

Demi had told Lea about the previous night in their physics class and the table was now discussing it in whispers.

"Shh, no one else can know except us." Demi said as there voices crept higher.

"Too bad I heard in physics, and it would be the perfect revenge." Demi froze when she heard Courtney's voice behind her. Demi was at a loss for words. "Oh my god!" Courtney yelled, projecting her voice as much as possible, despite the fact that the hall usually went quiet whenever she spoke, anyway, especially where Demi is involved. "Demi King slept with Adam Carter after their first date. What a slut!" Demi could feel her cheeks burning up, her mouth gaping open slightly. "Hmm." Courtney gave a small laugh before strutting out of the hall, leaving the hall buzzing with talking, all of it, Demi knew, about her. Hearing the word 'slut' coming up in everyone's conversations felt like she was being punched in the gut. She didn't even bother putting her lunch away, she grabbed her bag and ran out of the lunch hall. She ran through the corridors, she could feel tears on her cheeks now, and heard the sound of Courtney's evil laugh when she passed her. She ran straight out of the front doors, wanting to get away from the school as fast as she could. She ran around the corner, away from the school, and slumped down onto the floor, crying.

"You… run fast." It was Adam, panting slightly. She'd buried her head in her hands and was too busy sobbing to take notice of him. He crouched down and hugged her.

"I'm not going back there." She said a few minutes later after sobbing on Adam's shoulder. Adam looked doubtful at first but then nodded. "You can," she continued. "but I'm going home, or to _Mona__'__s_, or the surf shop." She told him as tears began to slowly stream down her face again.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Adam offered. She looked up at him.

"No." She told him, shaking her head. "It's ok for you to go back, no one's calling _you_ a slut, you'll probably get a pat on the back off everyone. And anyway, you're the 'A+' student. Just go back, I'll see you later." Adam opened his mouth to argue at first, but Demi just kissed him, telling him she was ok.

"Ok." He said, defeated, before walking back into school. Demi sighed and picked up her bag, and made her way to the closest place on her list: _Mona__'__s sandbar._

After a five minute walk she arrived there and peered through the window. She could see Erica waiting on tables but there was no sign of Johnny. '_He could be out back.__'_ She thought, but soon dismissed the thought, telling herself that she couldn't go in if only Erika was in because she would be too busy.

Another few minute walk brought her to _Beyond the Blue._ She looked through the window and saw Jay. She knew he'd ask questions, but she decided going here was better than nowhere. She put her hand on the door, about to walk in, when she saw Jay walk up to a woman who she couldn't quite see yet. He kissed her happily, rubbing her belly a little as he did so. Demi saw that it was Isabelle and decided not to disturb them.

Eventually she walked up to the house, taking a deep breath and preparing herself for questions and lectures. She knew there would be at least one person in the house so she might as well get it over and done with.

"Hello?" She said quietly, closing the door behind her with a '_click_'. She heard a pair of feet moving across the floor upstairs.

"Aren't you supposed to be in school?" She looked up and saw Susannah. Demi smiled sadly and nodded. She liked Susannah, she had always been really nice to her, but they'd never had and kind of talks like Demi knew was coming. Susannah made her way down the stairs. "And why aren't you there now?" Demi looked at her feet not wanting to get upset in front of anyone again. Susannah sighed a little. "Come on." She gestured towards the kitchen and began making them both a hot chocolate. Demi sat on the stool. "Demi, it's ok you can tell me. I won't get mad, because trust me," she laughed a little. "it can't be worse than what I got up to when I was your age." Demi smiled.

"Ava probably told you about last night, how I didn't come home till about half 6?" She began with a sigh.

"Ah, I see. Let me guess. The boy's a jerk and broke up with you after that?" Demi gave another sad smile and shook her head.

"I'd be destroyed if that happened. You know Courtney, the girl I beat up?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, she's been looking for revenge ever since. She eavesdropped when I told my friend Lea about last night in physics. And she must have really been trying, 'cos I kept that conversation real quiet." Susannah nodded her head, beginning to understand. "Then at lunch, she shouted it to the whole hall, saying how I'm a slut and I slept with Adam on our first date."

"Your first date?"

"Well, it wasn't our first date in a way, I mean we go down to the beach together all the time, but when I told Lea about last night we laughed at when Adam said 'our first date without water'."

"Well, you've only got tomorrow at school and then it's the weekend. I say you go in tomorrow and just act like you don't care. And it will die down over the weekend. But just remember, all the girls bitching about you are most likely sluts anyway. I'd bet any money that Courtney gets around, you can tell just by looking at her." Demi laughed.

"Thanks, Susannah."

"No problem. But you know that I'll have to tell Ava and Johnny you came home early from school, we can't keep things like this from each other. I'll just tell them I dealt with the situation, it's up to you if you want to tell them what happened." Demi hugged her and said _'__thanks__'_ again.

--Later that day--

"So, are you gunna beat her up again?" Bradin asked later, sitting on Demi's bed.

"No because I'll only get myself in trouble."

"Then what you gunna do?"

"Just ignore it, I guess." She replied, sighing. "I can't believe the whole school thinks I'm a slut."

"They don't, that's just Courtney trying to get in your head."

"'_Demi King slept with Adam Carter after their first date. What a slut!_' Urgh, it wasn't our first date… technically." Demi put her pillow to her and groaned. "What happened after I left?" She said finally.

"Nothing really, I mean everyone started talking, but it doesn't mean they all think the same thing as Courtney. Everyone knows she's a bitch. And besides, Courtney's the biggest slut in our school, she doesn't even have to be seeing a guy to sleep with him, at least Adam's your boyfriend."

"You don't think I'm a slut, do you?" Demi asked quietly.

"No, of course not. Anyone can see how much you and Adam like each other, and you've been going out for a while now. Truth is, Courtney doesn't even think you're a slut, she just wants you to think everyone else does. And you're letting it get to you. You can't believe anything Courtney says, you know that she hates you, she'll do anything to upset you."

"I guess you're right. But it wouldn't bother me so much if it was just the first date. But it was my first time and everyone knows…"

"Everyone knows you slept together. Only me, you and Adam know it was your _first_ time." Bradin interrupted.

"I know. I just wish they didn't know anything at all." Bradin nodded, understanding. Demi jumped a little when she heard a knock coming from the door leading to the garden. She smiled a little when she let Adam in.

"How are you doing?" Adam asked.

"Ok, I guess." She said slumping back down on the bed.

"Don't let Courtney get to you, Dem, she's a walking bag of STI's, anyway." Adam said, trying to reassure her.

"Thanks," Demi said laughing, "but I've had this talk." She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him, feeling better than she had done in a while.

"Well, I'm going to meet Erika on the promenade, you know, making more of an effort." He said, winking at Demi. "I'll see you guys later."

"You know what I just realised?" Demi said, smiling a little to herself.

"What?" Adam asked.

"This is the first time we've been alone properly, since… y'know, last night." Adam smiled and gave a little laugh.

"I guess it is."

"Adam, did you know… I mean, did you plan last night?" Demi asked, looking at him with a grin.

"I didn't… I mean, I thought it might, but I was only…" He was stopped by Demi's lips being pressed to his.

"It's ok, I'm kinda glad, especially since it wasn't a spur of the moment thing, well, a _complete_ spur of the moment thing, or else we might have gotten carried away and ended up with a surprise like 9 months down the line." Demi laughed.

"Look, I know that you probably already know this, but I just want you to know that last night didn't happen because I just wanted to sleep with you or take advantage or whatever, I really do care about you." Adam said sincerely, making Demi smile and look down, trying to hide a little blush. He lifted her head back up, putting his finger under her chin. "I love you."

"Adam, I know why last night happened, I wouldn't have let it happen otherwise. I love you, too." They kissed again, slowly and romantically. Adam broke apart from the kiss, feeling Demi's lips beginning to smirk and trying not to laugh.

"What is it?"

"Since you planned… I mean 'prepared' for last night and everything, I'm guessing it wasn't a coincidence that you had a free house."

"Ah, right again." Adam smiled. "My parents really have gone to a friends wedding so they had to fly to India, so I'm left in charge of the house since my brother doesn't live with us. My mom said no sleepovers, especially on school nights, but I let Beth when she asked and I had to force Sydney out of the house." He laughed. "But she didn't complain 'cos I let her sleep at her boyfriends house."

"Thank you." Demi said finally, after racking her brains of something to say before kissing him to prevent an awkward silence.

P/S: Hope you liked it, probably not the revenge you were expecting from Courtney, sorry! But it was weirdly harder to think of a revenge when it came down to actually writing it, but I guess this works. Lol, I'll just shut up now. Review please! Bats eyelashes!


	22. Chapter 22

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. Original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

A/N: Sorry for this being so short, but I kind of hit a wall and got stuck, I had to write this to move on to other stuff lol. Hope you enjoy anyway.

Chapter 22:

--

"Are they at home now?" Demi asked Adam, referring to his two younger sisters when they stopped kissing.

"Um, I think so. Why?" He asked, putting a lock of her hair behind her ear.

"I wanna meet them." She said with a smile. Adam quickly checked his watch.

"Are you sure?" Adam said, not looking too keen on the idea, but would go along with it anyway to keep Demi happy.

"Yeah, lets go." Demi got up, dragging Adam up by the hand behind her. They left the house and got into Adam's car, Demi back to her usual, happy, bouncy self.

"Sydney's boyfriend might be there, too, but I'm not sure." Adam told her.

"Ok." Demi said with a smile. They parked up a minute later and walked into the house.

"I was watching that!" The youngest of the two girls shouted. Demi and Adam had just entered the house, but no one had realised they were there yet.

"Well we want to watch the music channels." The older girl said nastily, settling into a boys arm next to her.

"Yeah, this is the family you like to bring your girlfriend home to." Adam whispered to Demi. She laughed a little and their presence became known when Adam slammed the door shut.

"Sydney, give Beth the remote." He instructed, walking into the living room, Demi following behind.

"Or else what?" Sydney challenged.

"Or else I'll tell mom you stayed at Ben's last night."

"And I'll tell mom that she stayed here last night." Sydney retaliated, giving a little nod towards Demi.

"Who do you think she'll be more angry at though?" Sydney gave a little huff and shot the remote over to Beth.

"Come on, we'll go up to my room." Sydney told her boyfriend and made her way up the stairs.

"Is this Demi?" Beth asked Adam, smiling at Demi.

"Yeah. Demi, Beth, Beth, Demi. Beth's not so bad, Sydney's the bigger brat." Adam laughed.

"You are telling mom that Sydney stayed at Ben's, aren't you?" Beth said with a slightly evil smile. Adam's eyes widened a little with worry, but only Demi noticed.

"Correction: Sydney's the brat, Beth's the snitch."

"Hey!"

"What's it gunna take?" Adam said with a defeated sigh.

"Hmm… no bedtime."

"Done."

"And 20." Adam looked sceptical for a moment.

"Done." Beth held her hand out expectantly. Adam fished into his pocket and retrieved 20.

"Thank you." Beth said with another evil smile before happily going upstairs.

"You have to be careful of what you say around Beth." Adam said, feeling an explanation was in order. "And hopefully I've just saved me and Sydney." Demi laughed. She wasn't sure what she'd expected from his sisters, but this definitely wasn't it. "So, what do you wanna do?"

"Um, we could go up to your room." Demi said shrugging her shoulders but with a hint of a smile.

"As you wish." Adam smiled, leading her up the stairs to his room for a second time.

"Such a tidy person." Demi said with a laugh, noticing the same clothes Adam had worn the previous night still scattered on the floor.

"Hey, it hasn't even been 24 hours yet since we took them off." Adam grinned.

"You took them off yourself last time, remember." Smiling cheekily as Adam slowly walked towards her.

"Yeah, but the time before that was definitely a joint effort." Demi gave a small laugh as Adam wrapped his arms around her waist and began kissing down her neck.

"Your sister's are in the house… and Ben…" Demi said breathily, her eyes sliding shut as Adam continued kissing her, enjoying the feel of his soft lips on her skin. Adam gave her a soft kiss on the lips before resting his forehead against hers.

"What? We're not doing anything wrong." Adam said innocently, though smirking. Demi bit her lip, smiling at him.

"You know that you're dying to, though." Demi whispered seductively. Adam raised his eyebrows a little before walking over to his bedroom door and locking it.

"If we're quiet, I suppose we might be able to do something." Adam whispered, grinning and pulling Demi closer to him again. He planted his lips onto hers again, backing her up until he was leaning her over the bed. He lifted the hem of her t-shirt, his hand slowly snaking up her torso to her chest.

"I can't." Demi said quickly.

"What's wrong?"

"I can't…we can't do this while your little sisters are in the house! … and Ben." She added, grinning a little. Adam made the best puppy dog face he could muster, which Demi simply grinned and shook her head at.

"Why? They won't know the difference." He pleaded.

"Adam, we've only had sex once, yesterday. You told me that we did it because we love each other. I don't want it to be something that happens all the time, I don't want it to lose its meaning." Adam opened his mouth a little, looking as if he was about to challenge what Demi just said, but decided against it. He didn't want to push her and he sure as hell didn't want to lose her. They sat on the bed quietly for a moment, a slightly awkward moment. Just at that moment, Demi's mobile went off. 'Saved by the bell.' She thought happily.

"Hello… um, ok, I'll be there in a few minutes… ok, bye."

"Who was that?"

"Uncle Johnny. I gotta get home for dinner." She said, putting her phone back in her pocket. Adam picked up his car keys, unlocked the bedroom door and led Demi out to the car. Within four minutes they were back at the house. "You wanna stay for dinner?" Demi asked when they pulled up. "Johnny said there's plenty of food."

"Um…" Adam quickly checked his watch. "Sure, why not." He smiled, taking Demi's hand once they were out of the car.

"Adam?" Demi said just as they were about to enter the house, stopping just outside the door.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry… about earlier. I just couldn't have slept with you knowing that people were on the opposite sides of the walls, and I know that we would've been doing it because we love each other, I just got a bit nervous and…" Demi was stopped by Adam's lips suddenly attaching to hers, silencing her.

"It's fine, don't even worry about it." He smiled.

"Maybe we could next time we have a free house…" Demi said seductively. Adam grinned and kissed her again.

"Don't just stand outside, dinners on the table." Their heads spun around as Nikki opened the door. They laughed and walked in the house, finding a seat at the dinner table and getting a plate of spaghetti.

P/S: Thanks for the reviews so far :D You guys are awesome, and I'm glad you liked Courtney's revenge, ShiaLover09, lol I thought I did pretty badly with that part.


	23. Chapter 23

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. Original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

A/N: The story has moved forward a short period of time, from the date I left it, I have no idea what month I am supposed to be in lol, to a week before a big event…

Chapter 23:

--

"Is everyone excited for next Wednesday?" Ava asked smiling.

"What's on Wednesday?" Nikki asked, confused.

"The wedding, silly!" Ava laughed. Everyone looked at each other, slightly wide eyed, all except for Ava and Johnny that is.

"It's already nearly time for the wedding? So soon?" Bradin asked, shocked.

"Well, we've all already got our outfits and the hall booked, everything's ready, and we wanted to get married as soon as possible." Ava said simply.

"Hey, guys, you all, um, have passports, right?" Johnny asked with a grin.

"We're going abroad!? Where are we going?" Derrick asked, the same question echoing around the table from everyone, except for Ava, Johnny and Bradin.

"We are going…" Johnny paused and waited for them to quiet down, which they did almost in an instant. "To a _beautiful_ hotel called 'Le Telfair golf and spa resort' in Bel Ombre, Mauritius!" Everyone cheered.

"I can't believe you're taking us all abroad!" Nikki cried happily before rushing off upstairs to google the hotel.

"It's absolutely beautiful, the views, the rooms, and the sand is so white and perfect, the sea is so clear and blue." Ava told Susannah, dreamily.

They would be having the wedding in Playa Linda, then heading for the airport straight afterwards, with only 30 minutes to get changed back into normal clothing. Of course, everything was very hectic for the following days leading up to the wedding and everyone had to make sure they had everything packed before the wedding and have their stuff pre-packed into the cars so they could go straight away. The wedding approached faster, and faster, then it was finally upon them.

"I can't believe I'm finally getting married." Ava said astonished, the prospect of the situation finally dawning on her. They were all sat having their hair done specially. Demi was grinning from ear to ear. She had never been to a wedding before, and the fact she was a bridesmaid _and _they had a week abroad for the honeymoon was more than just icing on the cake. The hour slipped by, no one seeming to know where all the time had gone.

Everyone was at the church now, a mixture of nerves and excitement filling almost every person in the building, but Ava and Johnny most of all.

"You look gorgeous!" Demi and Nikki repeatedly told Ava as she looked herself up and down in the mirror for about 5 minutes. All small rumble could be heard, all of the guests had arrived and the sound was a signal that the big moment was dawning, coming closer and closer. The louder it got, the worse the nerves got, but the excitement also built. Ava could hardly stand having the whirlwind of emotions inside of her.

"Come on, aunt Ava!" Bradin had entered the room, smiling. The moment they'd all been waiting for had finally come. Nikki and Demi held onto the train of Ava's stunning white dress. The train wasn't too long, the dress wasn't tacky or frilly. It was simple and white, rather like the one she'd worn when she was going to marry Simon O'keef, but this dress was twice as nice. Bradin took Ava's arm and led her to the hall and began to walk her down the aisle. Ava smiled as best she could, despite the fact that her heart was threatening to leap out of her chest. She could see Johnny in his straight forward, simple black tuxedo, looking at her in awe. She continued to walk to 'Here comes the bride' until she finally reached the altar. Once they reached it, Bradin, Nikki and Demi left Ava now and stood to the side, all of them smiling happily.

"We are gathered here today to witness…" The usual speech was given, droning on and quite monotonous, but they waited patiently all the same.

"Do you, Ava Gregory, take Johnny Durant, to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do." Ava said smiling joyfully with tears building and building in her eyes.

"And do you, Johnny Durant, take Ava Gregory, to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do." Johnny said dreamily, staring straight into Ava's eyes. Both Nikki and Demi had teary eyes now, too, as did many of the wedding guests.

"The rings, please?" Derrick quickly brought them, smiling up at Ava and Johnny, who both looked so blissfully happy at that moment. Johnny quickly ruffled Derrick's hair before taking the ring for Ava and sliding it up her finger. It fit perfectly on her beautiful, slender finger. Ava took the ring for Johnny and did the same, holding onto his hands happily afterwards. "By the power invested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride." Johnny smiled broadly, before leaning over and tenderly kissing Ava for a few seconds. Music played again and the hall erupted into applause.

After dropping a few dozen wedding present off back at the house, they were all on their way to the airport to start their amazing honeymoon/holiday in Mauritius. There were 14 people going, so they were spread out between different cars. Jay drove a car with himself, Isabelle, Danny, Derrick, Nikki and Cam in, Susannah drove a car with herself, Ava, Johnny, Bradin and Erika and Colby in and Demi and Adam drove in Adam's car. It didn't take long to get to the airport so they were soon out of the cars they had been squashed into. They couldn't believe how many suitcases there were, but they _did _have 14 people, and some things even had to be stuffed into hand luggage because of the lack of room in the suitcases. A boring 2 hours wait went by as slow as they could, and then they boarded the plane. The seats were in threes, so Ava, Johnny and Derrick sat in an aisle, Jay, Isabelle and Danny sat in another and everyone else sat in their pairs with strangers sat in the last available seats, all apart from Nikki and Cam, who happily sat with Colby, too, as Nikki loved to talk to Colby.

"The last few weeks have went by so fast." Demi told Adam, wondering where the time had gone.

"I know. But so much has happened, too." He said, smiling mischievously at her. She laughed and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I looked up the hotel on the internet. It looks absolutely gorgeous. The rooms are really nice, the hotel is really pretty and the views are amazing."

"It will be if I'm looking at you." Adam said, smiling sweetly. Demi found it weirdly cute when he went soppy on her, sometimes not able to contain her laughter when he says really corny things. She kissed him sweetly and playfully, before the whole plane was silenced when they were told the plane was setting off. It turned and began up a runway, building speed, more and more, all the passengers pushed back in their seats from the force and then they were soaring up. Up and up, above the clouds, their ears all slowly popping. The ground beneath them was soon reduced to a series of little dots of light. Demi soon fell asleep on Adam's shoulder, which she was thankful for, so she didn't have to sit bored through the long, tiring journey.

P/S: Wow, a lot shorter than I expected. Sorry about that! But I don't want the wedding and honeymoon holiday in the same chapter, lol. Please review!! :D Tell me what you think of this chapter. It was a little rushed.


	24. Chapter 24

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. Original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

A/N: Drama picks up now! At the end, of course :D Review and tell me what you think!

Chapter 24:

--

"Demi, wake up!" She was gently rocked awake.

"Hmm?" Demi said, still half asleep.

"Wake up, we're landing." Adam told her happily. Demi woke a little more upon hearing this, her eyes fluttering as she curled her hands into little balls and rubbed her eyes, causing Adam to smile as she reminded him of a small girl. They were already quite near to the ground when Adam had shaken Demi awake, and they landed bumpily within the next two minutes. The jerky bumps definitely woke Demi up. Everyone talked animatedly as they went to the airport and collected all of their luggage, before boarding a bus that was to take them to their hotel.

"Now, do you all know the room arrangements?" Ava asked them all. They stared blankly at each other. Ava rolled her eyes and gave a slight chuckle. "Right. Johnny and I will be on the to floor in a honeymoon suite. You will all be on the floor below us, so I want no fighting. Jay and Isabelle, you will be sharing a room. Derrick and Danny will be sharing the room next door to yours. Susannah, you and Colby will share a room. And now the last room arrangements… I'm trusting you guys and letting you have some freedom." Ava said with a small smile. "Bradin, you and Erika will share a room, Nikki, you and Cam will share a room and Demi, you and Adam will share a room. Is everything clear?" Everyone murmured happily and agreed with Ava's room arrangements.

They were soon dropped off at the hotel, grunts clearly heard from the bus, as luggage for 14 people takes a lot of time to take off the bus and they all wanted to get to their hotels, too.

"Wow, it's even more beautiful than on the pictures." Nikki gasped, awed. After they'd been given room keys and signed in, etc, they made their way up to their rooms.

"248." Demi read aloud.

"249." Bradin read.

"250." Nikki said grinning.

"We get it, our rooms are right next to each other." Jay laughed. "Now come on, lets get to them!" They hopped into the lifts which took them to their allocated floors. It was rather late now, so they decided to leave unpacking for the morning and go straight to bed. Demi pulled a pair of flannel pyjamas out of her suitcase and shot them on, clambering into the king size bed, the only bed. Adam got in moments later, wrapping his arm around her waist, her body fitting exactly to the curve of his as they both drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

--The next morning--

"You know what I love about this hotel?" Demi said happily to Adam as they both got ready.

"What?"

"We went all inclusive." She grinned. "I'm going to eat until I pop, you?" She laughed. Adam laughed at her, too, and they made their way down to the dining room. They found Bradin and Erika were already down there, so grabbed some breakfast and joined them at their table.

"I love this hotel!" Erika exclaimed. "It's so beautiful!" They all nodded in agreement as they ate, Erika and Demi both opting for the gorgeous and juicy fruit and Bradin and Adam sticking with cereal. It wasn't long until more people joined them, Nikki and Cam first, then Jay, Isabelle, Danny and Derrick, then Susannah, Colby, Ava and Johnny.

"So how does it feel to be Mrs Johnny Durant?" Jay asked Ava, grinning.

"Amazing." Ava said happily, smiling broadly, as she had done practically all the time since the wedding. They ate their cereal, talking animatedly.

"So, what do you wanna do when we're finished here?" Adam asked Demi.

"We could… go down to the pool? It's weird, we live right next to a beach but I haven't been swimming in ages." Demi laughed.

"Swimming it is." Adam smiled. They quickly ate the rest of their breakfast and made their way back up to the room.

"Damn, we have to unpack first." Demi said, a little disappointed.

"It shouldn't take too long." Adam told her. It did.

"I can't believe it took half an hour for two people to unpack." Demi said incredulously. "I'll just go change into my bikini." Demi told him, grabbing it and making her way to the bathroom. Adam got changed in the bedroom and they were down at the hotels big, gorgeous swimming pool. Susannah and Colby were lounging around on the deck chairs, Colby saying how he desperately needed to tan but he burns really easily, which explained the white nose and ears. Nikki and Cam were already in the pool. Nikki dipped her toe in to test the water, see how could it was. She screamed as she plunged into it, with a little help from Adam pushing her.

"Ow, my leg." Demi said, bending it and holding it, tears forming in her eyes.

"God, I'm so sorry." Adam said, jumping in. Demi ducked him under the water.

"That'll teach you to push me in." Demi laughed when he resurfaced, grinning and swimming away fast. He swam after her and the silly games continued, Nikki and Cam joining in as they raced, ducked each other and did underwater handstands, etc. Demi got bored of this after about two hours, and wanted to save herself from wrinkling up completely. She and Adam left the pool, grabbing their towels and heading back to the room.

"I think we should have a walk down to the town, look around the shops." Demi smiled, pulling on a pair of very short denim shorts, the ones she had worn on the day of the fight with Courtney. She put on a white halter top too, revealing her midriff a little. Adam threw on a pair of shorts and a vest and they headed out.

--With Ava and Johnny--

Ava admired the ring on her finger. It was unbelievable, she was on her _honeymoon!_ She loved being Mrs Johnny Durant, they'd loved each other for years and years, but they had both been too stubborn to admit it, both too afraid of getting hurt, too. She was lazily laid in the big, luxurious white bed. Johnny was in the bathroom, she could here the electric razor as it trimmed his newly forming stubble. Everything was great. It was only the first day at the hotel, but Ava could tell everything was going to be perfect. She felt as though she were in paradise. She had all her family and closest friends with her and there wasn't a fault to be found with any aspect of the hotel, delicious food, excellent service, extraordinarily clean, she was so happy that Bradin, Nikki and Demi sharing rooms with Erika, Cam and Adam didn't even bother her. She was there age once, and she was definitely worse than them, so decided not to be hypocritical for this week.

"Hello, Mrs Durant." Johnny said, having finished shaving. He was beaming at her. '_How did I get someone so perfect?__'_ He found himself thinking.

"Wow." Ava laughed. "That really is going to take a while to get used to." Johnny kissed her. Every time their lips touched, they wanted more and more. And the greatest thing about being on their honeymoon was that they could have more and more, they could do as they pleased. It wasn't too long before Johnny couldn't contain himself any longer and they were once again in bed, blissfully moaning in unison.

--With Bradin and Erika--

Bradin kissed Erika quickly, before picking up a board and hitting Mauritius' perfect waves. Although Erika had been Bradin's surf coach, he was now considerably better than her. They surfed the waves together, laughing and smiling for about an hour before coming back to the shore again for a break.

"What?" Bradin asked, though smiling, upon catching Erika staring at him for a long moment.

Oh, nothing." She said, grinning as she laid down on her towel.

"Tell me." Bradin said, also grinning as he sat on his towel next to hers. She tried to avoid this by trying to kiss him.

"Uh-uh, you have to tell me first." Bradin said teasingly, though wrapping her in his arms.

"It's nothing important, really!" Erika laughed, looking up at her perfect, gorgeous boyfriend.

"Well if it's not important you should be able to tell me." Bradin laughed. "Relationships need trust, y'know." Bradin mocked.

"It's just… I'm just really happy. Happier than I've been in a long time. I mean, you told me that you loved me, and I was so happy because I really love you too. But then it's like you told me that then forgot about it, we didn't really make an effort and now… you are. We are. We're really trying and I don't think I've ever felt this good before." Bradin smiled at her, making a mental note to thank Demi again for telling him to try, and kissed Erika passionately. He felt the same way he had done when they couldn't be together again, no, he loved her even more, which Bradin thought was impossible.

--Later that night--

Bradin, Demi, Adam and Erika were all in Bradin and Erika's room.

"I hear that Port Louis is supposed to be really good." Erika said happily. "I think we should go there."

"Now?" Bradin asked incredulously.

"What? It's not too late and it's really good at night, I was asking some of the other guests." Erika continued.

"It does seem really good." Adam agreed. "It was constructed in 1735 by the French governor, it's got loads…"

"Aw, it's kinda cute when you go all geeky on me… Sometimes." Demi laughed.

"Come on, it's only 7:30! We might be back a bit late but who cares!? We're on vacation." Erika beamed.

"Ok, raise your hand if you want to go." Bradin instructed. Erika and Adam raised their hands.

"Why don't you two just go? You'll only be a few hours." Bradin suggested.

"Yeah, I can bear not being with you, Adam, as long as it's not for too long." Demi laughed, making a puppy dog face.

"Are you sure you two don't wanna come?" Erika asked.

"I don't really fancy looking at some old port. But I hear that 25 of their export is sugar cane. See, your not the only smart one." Demi said, teasing Adam. "I'm sure that equates to fun!" She mocked.

"You don't know what your missing." Erika sang.

"I think we do." Bradin laughed. "You two go. We'll just hang out here." They kissed goodbye and left.

"So," Bradin said. "How do we kill the few hours that they're not here?" Demi shrugged.

"You're the one who should have the brilliant ideas." Demi replied with a smirk. Bradin looked down at his wrist.

"That's it!"

"What?" Demi asked, confused. Bradin held up his wrist, revealing the white strap around it.

"The brilliance of going all inclusive," Bradin began, matter-of-factly, "is that you can get as much free stuff as you want." Demi began to click on.

"And what do you suggest we pig out on?"

"Pig out? No, my friend, we drink." Bradin told her, grinning. Demi considered this for a moment. She had barely ever drunk before, and had never ever gotten tipsy or drunk, and had never exactly wanted to, living with an alcoholic and all. "You don't drink, do you?" Bradin said mockingly. She had to challenge him after that.

"There's a first for everything." She said confidently. Within the next ten minutes they had many, many bottles of beer and alcopops. Bradin had even gotten vodka and shot glasses.

"Still so confident?" Bradin asked, smirking as Demi looked incredulously at the incredible load of alcohol. She couldn't believe they had gotten so much, no way were they going to be able to drink it all.

"Just you watch." She said, picking up a beer, taking off the lid and guzzling it. She downed the whole bottle. It didn't taste too bad, but she wouldn't exactly say it was nice.

"Impressive… for a beginner that is." He took the lids off three beers and drank them one by one.

"I'm just getting started." Demi retaliated, smiling. She drank an alcopop, and another, and another.

"You do know there's barely anything in those things, right?" Bradin laughed. "Lets see how daring you really are." Bradin got a bottle of tequila, a lemon and salt. He poured a shot of tequila. "Lick the salt, bite into the lemon the drink the shot." Demi widened her eyes slightly at this, but didn't back down.

"Ok, but you have to do it, too, at the same time."

"Fine." He said, pouring another shot. "One, two, three!" They both licked the salt, bit into the lemon and drank their shots. It made Demi feel sick, but she did it. "Yeah, I don't like it either." Bradin laughed. Demi gave him a why-do-it-then!? look and laughed. They sat and talked and drank for the next hour or so, still with plenty of drink left.

"Do you want Ava and Johnny to have kids?" Demi asked curiously. She didn't even notice that she was slurring her words slightly.

"No room. We'd make room. Nikki would love a baby." Bradin said, hiccupping a little.

"Do you ever want kids?" Demi asked, putting a hand on the bed to steady herself a little as she swayed slightly. Bradin gave a big shrug.

"I love Erika. I love her. It's like… love. Its weird. I love her lots." Bradin said. Demi noticed he swayed a little himself as he looked thoughtfully into space and laughed. Bradin laughed at himself, too, noticing how he was going a little mushy. "Shots?" Bradin asked, grinning. And so the game began again. They drank more and more shots, then laughed, then talked some more.

"What about Nikki? You don't look at her because she's did it." Demi said drunkenly.

"She's… young. She's my sister, which means she shouldn't." Bradin said resolutely.

"That's dumb, you have. She's just like you. Well, she's a girl. But she needs to have sex too. Cam loves her, y'know. Real love. Like, they've been together ages."

"She doesn't need sex. That's dumb."

"She does. So do you. So do I." Bradin laughed, a little too much since nothing was really funny. But Demi laughed too. She just seemed quite happy, and it seemed the more she drank, the happier she became.

"Why am I happy? My mom alcoholic. She's mad. She hurt when she was drunk." Demi said stupidly, guzzling down another beer. Bradin gave another big shrug. They looked at the time. It was about 9 o'clock.

"They won't be back for ages." Demi said randomly, stating the obvious. Bradin nodded as he, too, took large gulps from his beer can. "We're running out of beer." Demi said, looking over to the massively decreased pile."

"So?" Bradin shrugged. "We're pissed anyway. More will make you throw up."

"I like beer. I want more." Demi protested. 5 minutes later and they had another crate of beers. "Fast service." Demi laughed, tugging at the pull of another beer.

"Your drunk." Bradin laughed. Demi shook her head.

"I'm just tipsy." She laughed.

"Walk in a straight line." Bradin challenged. Demi got up and began walking, and was soon surprised to find she was on the floor, realising she'd fallen over.

(A/N: Might not want parents in the room, but I'm not sure how bad it's about to get, so you've been warned!)

"Oh well." She laughed, slowly making her way back to the bed and flopping onto it. She giggled to herself, not quite knowing what was funny, but something seemed to be. The laugh was contagious, and soon Bradin was laughing at Demi's laugh. He leaned over to her and kissed her on the lips. Demi didn't pull away but simply kissed back, not really thinking about what she was doing, just simply doing. The kiss got more and more passionate. Bradin sloppily started to kiss down Demi's neck, both of them acting as though they were robots on autopilot and just doing without stopping to think. Bradin didn't waste much time. He pulled her top over her head, and she pulled of his t-shirt. They began kissing again as they kicked off trousers and underwear, and before either of them knew what was happening, they were having sex. Bradin was amazing, and it didn't take long for them both to come. They kept on going and going, feeling pleasure rushing through them, before Bradin simply fell asleep. Demi laughed a little, before falling asleep herself.

P/S: So, what do you think? I like this one, lol. Do you like the cheating? Review!


	25. Chapter 25

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. Original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

A/N: Kind of short but oh well. Don't want to put too many major story plans into one chapter :D Lol, read and review, you know the drill!

Chapter 25:

--

Demi's eyes fluttered open, then closed almost immediately. She had a migraine, topped off with a banging headache. She sat up in the bed. Beer cans littered the floor. She examined the floor a little more, her mouth falling open at what else was on the floor. She saw both hers and Bradin's clothes as that part of the previous night came back to her, partially. _'__What have I done!?_' She panicked, shaking the sleeping Bradin awake, next to her.

"Mmph" He groaned.

"Bradin wake up!" She said, shaking him hard.

"Hey." He said quietly. He looked up at Demi, confused. "Where's Erika?" He then noticed Demi was naked, holding the quilt up to cover herself, then realised that he, too, was naked. He woke up fully.

"Shit!" He looked at the floor, his eyes widening at the incredible amount of beer cans on the floor. A fat tear rolled down Demi's cheek. Bradin didn't know what to do. He had cheated on his girlfriend! And Demi had cheated on Adam! But they were both so drunk and it just… happened. He reached down and picked up their clothes. "Here." He said quietly as she turned away from him and slowly dressed herself. He followed suit and pulled on his underwear and trousers. "We'd better clear this up." They began to pick up the beer cans and bottles of the floor, finding some black bags under the sink and throwing them all in.

"How are we going to take that to a bin without someone seeing us and wondering what the hells going on?" Demi asked. She was in a state of shock, she couldn't believe she'd been unfaithful to Adam. Every time she thought about it, tears sprung to her eyes, so she tried not to think about it for now.

"I dunno." Bradin shrugged. "I guess we'll have to hide it and take it when it's dark or something." Demi nodded in agreement. "Look, Demi, I'm so sorry. I can't believe that last night went that far."

"It's not all your fault." Demi said quietly. "I wonder where Adam and Erika are. They'll definitely be back now." A knock on the door startled them both. Bradin quickly hid the bag of bottles and beer cans out on the little patio. Demi held out a shaking hand as she turned the door handle.

"Hey, heavy sleepers!" Erika said, smiling at them. They knew they couldn't tell them about last night, so fixed their faces to be happy and cheery. "I knocked for ages but all I heard was loud snoring." Erika laughed. They laughed, too.

"Yeah, sorry, babe." Bradin said, pulling her close and kissing her. He felt pangs of guilt when he kissed her, but she couldn't know. Things had been going so well lately, and he couldn't bare to spoil it now.

"It's ok." She said when they broke apart. "I just slept on the little sofa in Demi and Adam's room." She hugged him tightly, resting her head against his chest.

"Is Adam awake?" Demi had miraculously managed to keep her voice steady, not quivering at all.

"Yeah, he's in your room." Erika told her with a smile. Demi braced herself before walking into the room, trying to keep as calm as possible.

"Was the port good?" Demi asked, smiling broadly at her boyfriend. He smiled when he heard her voice, realising she'd came in.

"Yeah. I mean, it took ages to get there and back, but it was still really good. It was beautiful, I wish you'd came." He said, pulling her into a hug.

"So do I." She said, truthfully, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Really?" Adam asked when they pulled out of the embrace.

"Yeah, I mean, it was pretty boring last night, we just sat and talked, really." Demi lied.

"We could go today if you want, I mean if you really want to go." Adam offered, holding her hand. She looked into his hopeful face. She smiled, even though the guilt inside her was tearing her apart.

"Yeah, of course." She answered, before being kissed gently.

"Great. You wanna go now or later?"

"Now. I'm kinda sick of being stuck in the hotel." She laughed. She got a shower and a change of clothes and soon she making her way down to the port with Adam.

--

The rest of the day dragged by for both Bradin and Demi, both of their thoughts consumed by the mistake they'd made the previous night. Demi didn't remember what had happened moment to moment, but she remembered everything she needed to remember, like kissing Bradin and ending up in bed with him. Adam had suggested that they have sex that night, but Demi couldn't face it. She told him that he knew she loved her and that she would have, but told him she didn't feel well so she wasn't up to it. She wasn't entirely lying about not feeling well, she'd felt so guilty all day it made her want to vomit. Bradin, on the other hand, did have sex with Erika that night, thinking it may prove to him that she was the one for him, which he knew, but had somehow gotten it into his head that last night wouldn't seem so bad if he slept with his girlfriend, being as obedient as possible to her, treating her like a princess. '_It__'__s what she deserves._' He told himself, completely committed to satisfying her and being the best boyfriend he could be.

Demi didn't sleep much that night, so left Adam a note telling him she'd left the room and took the key. She told him she was most likely to be at the pool, though she might change her mind. She did go to the pool, but only for ten minutes. She needed to relax, and then it hit her. How could she be so stupid? They were at _'__Le Telfair golf and spa resort__'__ . Spa!_ She quickly made her way to the spa area, in urgent need of a good massage and perhaps a good half hour in a sauna room, just to unwind. She laid down on the massaging table, putting her face in the little loop at the top while a lovely brunette woman worked her magic. She smiled inwardly for a moment before remembering that she'd had a one night stand with Bradin the other night. _'__You__'__re here to forget about it!_' She told herself. '_At least for a few hours._' She thanked the massager afterwards and made her way to the sauna room. Since it was so early, she had the room to herself, which she was thankful for. She sat down, basking in the heat. She let her eyes droop, trying not to think at all, to let everything be silent, even in her head. She rested her head against the wall.

"Great minds think alike." Demi's eyes shot open to see Bradin standing in the doorway.

"B-Bradin." She spluttered. He came in and sat down, a little away from her.

"You ok?" He asked after an awkward silence. She raised her head a little, about to nod, but there was no use lying to him. He was bound to be feeling the same way.

"I can't stop thinking about it." She said truthfully. "I can't stand being around Adam. He's so great, and I've done this to him, but I have to be around him because I want to be, too. It's so confusing." She said a little angrily.

"I know. I feel so guilty and sorry all the time. If I hadn't suggested all the drinks, nothing would've happened."

"The drinking was ok, but I didn't stop you when you kissed me."

"Demi, you were so drunk. And so was I. Neither of us thought about what we were doing, we didn't think to stop it."

"I still feel really guilty." She admitted, sadly. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I can't wait for this holiday to end. It's been so perfect and I love the hotel, I just don't like being so close to Adam all the time."

"I know." Bradin agreed. "I know it's probably inevitable, but I don't want things to get awkward between us. Well, at least not too awkward. It was a mistake, that's it. We can still talk properly and everything, right?" Demi thought about this for a moment, then smiled.

"Sure. I mean, we're talking now, right?" She laughed, for the first time since being drunk. He smiled at her.

"Thanks. Now all we have to do is survive the rest of the week."

"I think we should think of a cover up story, too. Y'know, so our stories match. I told Adam that we talked all night and it was really boring. Maybe we could say that's why we fell asleep so early?"

"Yeah. I haven't told Erika anything yet, and she doesn't suspect anything. Hopefully things will carry on like that." Bradin said with a sad smile. "I really don't want to lose her. I really do love her." Demi gave him a quick hug.

"Bradin… do you actually remember the other night? I mean, the end of the night?" Demi asked timidly.

"Most of it." Bradin nodded. "You?"

"I remember kissing, being in bed naked, and having sex." Demi admitted. "Can I tell you something that's really been making me feel guilty? And you won't tell anyone?"

"Demi, I'm never telling anyone about what happened the other night, so I think it doesn't matter how much you tell me about it."

"I feel really guilty because… I love Adam, and we've only had sex once, but… you were better, like, really good." Demi couldn't believe she'd said that out loud and bowed her head a little to hide her red face. Bradin couldn't help but grin a little. It was, after all, a compliment, even if it was about the biggest mistake of his life. "We'd better get back." Demi said after a long silence.


	26. Chapter 26

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. Original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

A/N: Ha ha I'm glad people liked the last chapters, I love the awkward situations :D Read and review!

Chapter 26:

--

The week went by slowly for Bradin and Demi, but everyone else found themselves wondering where the time had gone. They packed up their suitcases and got on the bus back to the airport. Unlike when they came, they spent next to no time waiting to board the plane and were soon sat and fastened in, everyone in the same seating arrangements as before. Demi sat and talked with Adam for a little while on the plane, a painful time to her which seemed to last an eternity, his usually very welcomed playful kisses seeming to punch her in the stomach. She couldn't take much more.

"I'm so tired." She lied, yawning a surprisingly convincible yawn and closing her eyes, pretending to be asleep. It wasn't long until she actually did fall asleep, although she hadn't expected herself too. She didn't dream at all, but simply slept.

"Demi, we're home." Adam told her, smiling as he gently shook her awake.

"Hmm?" She said, recovering from her sleepy state. Demi was glad that Adam only woke her when they were very close to the ground, so she only had to wait about a minute to land instead of circling for about 5 minutes. Soon they were all stood by a conveyer belt, waiting for their suitcases to come in amongst a sea of others. It was 45 minutes before they'd finally got them all, a truly irritating wait for Demi but at least it was over. Demi got into Adam's car again and all the cars followed each other home. When Susannah dropped Colby off at his house, Demi saw the perfect opportunity to get away from her perfect boyfriend, to feel a little less like scum since she wouldn't be around him.

"Babe, I'm really tired and I want to unpack when I get in. I'm just gunna get in Susannah's car, so you can go straight home." She said, as sweetly and, she hoped, convincingly as possible. He shrugged, although Demi could sense he was a little disappointed.

"Ok." He leaned and gave her another soft, gentle kiss. She hated how he was so good to her, and she had just betrayed him as soon as his back was turned.

"Bye." She said with a smile, before grabbing her suitcase and hand luggage and joining Susannah in her car, along with Ava, Johnny, Bradin and Erika.

"So, what was everyone's favourite part of the holiday?" Johnny asked happily.

"Being able to spend time with my beautiful husband." Ava smiled, kissing him.

"Ava!" Bradin, Demi, Susannah and Erika said before laughing.

"What was your favourite part, Bradin?" Ava asked.

"Um… probably getting to spend so much time with Erika." He said, wrapping his arm more tightly around her.

"Probably?" She joked, before giving him a quick, sweet kiss.

"What about you, Demi?" Ava asked, smiling at her. She'd hated most of the holiday after what happened between her and Bradin.

"Spending so much time with Adam." She lied.

"Oh, come on, we've all said that. Seriously, what's your favourite part?" She asked again. Demi was surprised at how well she answered the question.

"Well, the views were beautiful, everything about the hotel was perfect, and all the massages I got." She laughed, impressed with how her lying skills were coming along. Within the next 5 minutes they were back at home, after dropping Erika off at home. They grabbed their suitcases and dragged them inside. Demi slowly unpacked, it was somehow therapeutic, giving her time to think. She kept herself busy and somehow it cleared her mind. Her and Bradin were going to forget about the other night and move on. It was a big deal, but it was starting to seem like less of one and Demi liked that. Soon, everything would be back to normal. She smiled as she finished unpacking, throwing on some pyjamas and getting into bed.

--A few weeks later--

Demi was practically back to her normal self, but was happier than she'd been in a while. They'd finally broken up for the Christmas holidays. She was out shopping, buying everyone's gifts. She had bought Nikki a gorgeous bag and a makeup set; she bought Derrick a book on astronomy as she recently discovered he was very interested in it; she bought Johnny some expensive aftershave; she bought Ava a gorgeous perfume and some fabric which was very hard to find, but she'd overheard her telling Susannah and Colby that she was in desperate need of it; she bought Adam a big teddy with 'World's best boyfriend' written on a love heart in it's hand, along with some of his favourite deodorant and a lovely smelling aftershave she loved. She didn't know what she should buy Bradin, she couldn't really think of anything she could get him. It took her a while, and she thought it was a pretty rubbish present, but she bought him a new ankle strap for his surfboard since his needed replacing. She got him a necklace, too, since he liked wearing them, but it wasn't too expensive. She decided to get him some of the same deodorant she'd gotten Adam, too, just so the amount of money she'd spent on each of them was more fair. She decided to get the girls from school some perfumes and makeup, which she'd given them on the day they broke up from school and they seemed to like, and she received various presents, too, mostly makeup, jewellery, perfume and a gorgeous little jewellery box from Lea.

"Finally." She said to herself, paying for the presents she'd bought that day, along with wrapping paper, tags and cello tape. She walked home with bulging bags, dropping them onto the floor and flopping onto the bed.

"Knock, knock." Demi looked up to see Nikki stood at the door, smiling.

"Come in." Demi smiled.

"Your supposed to say 'Whose there?', silly." Nikki joked. "What's in the bags?" Nikki asked, beginning to peer into one of them.

"Hey, they're Christmas presents, no peeking, it has to be a surprise!" Demi laughed. "So, what's up?" Demi asked.

"Nothing really, I just haven't really sat down and talked to you in a while." Nikki said, smiling.

"Ok." Demi said, though not entirely believing her but giving her the benefit of the doubt. "How's things with you and Cam?" Demi asked, trying to start the conversation.

"Great." Nikki said, smiling inwardly. "He's so nice and so perfect and treats me just…"

"Nice and perfectly?" Demi joked.

"Ha, ha. But that's actually right, no ones ever made me feel like this before." Nikki said, her smile growing.

"Did anything happen whilst you shared a room on holiday?" Demi asked, curious.

"Well, yeah, it was bound to." Nikki laughed. "What about you and Adam?"

"Things are great." Demi smiled. And lately, they had been. They hadn't had sex again, but Adam couldn't be more perfect for her.

"And what about on holiday?" Nikki probed, grinning.

"Nothing happened. I felt ill for most of the week." Dem lied.

"Are you too very sexually active or not?" Nikki asked curiously.

"Nikki!" Demi laughed.

"What? You know about me and Cam." Nikki protested.

"True. Well, not really. It's happened once." Demi admitted. "I'm just scared that if he wants it all the time, it won't mean as much. And I don't want to be having sex day in, day out." Demi said, mostly telling the truth. Thing was, she hadn't been up to having sex since that night with Bradin.

"Is Adam ok with that?" Nikki asked.

"Yeah." Demi said, smiling inwardly. "He's so perfect and so good to me. Sometimes it hard to work out how I got so lucky." Demi said thoughtfully.

"I know what you mean." Nikki said, giving her a quick smile.

"Dinner's ready!" They heard Ava shout. They made their way to the kitchen. Derrick bumped into Demi, hitting her accdently in the chest.

"Ow!" Demi said, her chest becoming sore.

"Sorry, Demi!" Derrick apologised quickly.

"It's ok." Demi said, faking a smile. The pain began to go, slowly. They grabbed a plate of beef lasagne and sat around the table to eat.

"Everyone excited for Christmas?" Ava asked them happily. They began to talk animatedly about Christmas and telling Ava what they were 'hoping' to get, Derrick being the biggest hint dropper of all.

"And remember, we're having a big Christmas eve dinner, so you can all invite a guest." Jonny told them. Demi had completely forgotten about this and made a mental note to invite Adam.

--The next day--

Demi had sent Adam a text, telling him to come to the house at whatever time he wanted, seeing as she would be in all day. He came promptly as always and they went to her room.

"So, do you have any Christmas eve plans on the evening?" Demi asked, smiling.

"You mean other than sleeping like a good boy and waiting for Santa?" Adam joked.

"Yes, other than that."

"Not really."

"Would you like to come here for a Christmas eve dinner? Everyone's coming over and it wouldn't be the same without you." Demi said, giving him a puppy dog face.

"Of course I'll come." Adam said, laughing at her version of a 'puppy dog' face. He kissed her gently, but she was reluctant to break apart. They kissed more and more, until finally Demi was laid down on the bed. "I love you." He said, softly.

"I love you, too." She said, smiling broadly before kissing him again, his hands running up and down her body. The snaked under her t-shirt, crawling up to her breasts. She jumped a little as he touched them.

"You ok?" He asked. She put on a smile.

"Yeah, I think I've got a flu or something. I've had a lot of headaches lately and everywheres sore. We probably should stop." She said, with a shaky laugh.

"Ok." He said, planting a small kiss on her forehead.

"I'm thirsty. Wanna get something to drink?" She asked, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. He nodded and followed her out of the room. She poured herself a glass of water, sipping on it greedily.

"Hey." Bradin had entered the room, having just came back from seeing Erika.

"Hey." Demi and Adam said in unison. Demi joined Adam, sitting on one of the stools, strangely feeling too lazy to stand. She rested the side of her face in her hand with her elbow on the counter. Bradin began to tell Adam about the Christmas present he had gotten for Erika, but Demi want really listening.

"Demi?" Adam asked, looking at her curiously.

"Hmm?" She opened her eyes and they were both staring at her.

"Did you just fall asleep?" Bradin asked. Demi couldn't remember going to sleep. "You just snored." He laughed.

"I can't remember falling asleep." Demi said with a small laugh. A phone ring tone made Demi jump.

"Sorry… Hello?… um, ok, yeah I could do that. Now?… ok, I'll see you later… bye." Adam said, chatting on the phone.

"Who was that?" Demi asked, standing up and taking the glass of water, which she had already drank, to the sink.

"My mom. I have to go do some jobs for her. Sorry, I gotta go. I'll see you later." He gave her a quick kiss and then left.

"So… you got all your Christmas shopping done?" Demi asked Bradin.

"Yeah." He said with a smile. "You?" She nodded her head, then wished she hadn't.

"Ow… I've definitely caught a flu." She told him. "I'm gunna go to bed for a while. See you later."

"Bye."

P/S: I may post the next chapter later today... it's really long but it's got lots of drama, so i can't wait for you guys to read it!


	27. Chapter 27

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. Original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

A/N: Warning! Drama ahead :D

Chapter 27:

--

Christmas eve was finally upon them. Demi dressed in a nice denim skirt and a pink top with sleeves. Her flu had only gotten worse, no matter how many paracetamol or ibruprofen tablets she took. She gave up on taking them, seeing as they didn't do anything for her. It was midday and they were all already helping to set up for dinner that night with all their friends. As Demi's flu got worse, she frequently needed toilet breaks, but she had been drinking a lot of water. They all helped with the Christmas decorations, spiralling tinsel around the banister and decorating the tree. Demi picked up one of the precious little glass baubles, taking it over to the tree. Her stomach suddenly lurched. She dropped the bauble, which smashed on the floor and ran up the stairs. She didn't make it in time. She threw up all over the top step.

"Demi, honey, are you ok? I think we might have to take you to the doctor with this flu." Ava told her, concerned.

"I'll be fine, Ava, it's just a flu. And I feel better now that I've thrown up, I doubt it'll happen again." She said, smiling at Ava, hoping she'd drop the subject. Luckily, she did. She cleaned the top step of the stairs and got back to helping with the decorations.

Everyone began placing their gifts around the tree. Demi had never been this excited on Christmas. She had celebrated it with her mother, but it was never special and her mom ended up getting drunk by the end of the night and leaving Demi alone in the house. She felt like she was in a movie and they were making Christmas so special, preparing to celebrate with their closest friends and family and everyone was going to get the gift they'd wanted. Demi hoped that Christmas would turn out that perfect for them all.

Nikki helped Ava in the kitchen as Ava had forbidden Demi to help her, with her having such a bad flu, so instead she helped Johnny. He was out decorating the back garden with Derrick, putting 'Santa land here' signs around and draping fairy lights everywhere. The next job, which was too hard and dangerous for Derrick to help with, was putting the big Christmas lights in the shapes of Santa and reindeer and snowmen, etc, onto the roof, and lining he roof with even more lights.

"Why didn't we do this sooner?" Demi laughed.

"Because," Johnny said, grinning and laughing himself. "that would make life easy on us." Demi had to climb up and down and up and down the ladder, taking plugs and putting them into their sockets, rearranging them so that the lights weren't being pulled off the roof. They were surprised to see that Jay, Isabelle and Danny had already arrived when they got back in. Jay told them how Isabelle had insisted on coming early so she could help out, so three sets of hands were now busy in the kitchen. Isabelle had a considerably bigger bump than the last time Demi had seen her.

"So, do you and Isabelle know what you're having yet?" Demi asked Jay.

"A little girl." Jay told her. Everyone couldn't help but notice how his face had lit up, how proud and excited he looked.

"Do you know what you're calling her?" Johnny asked. Jay shook his head.

"Nope. We're going to decide once it's born, make sure the name suits her, y'know?"

"Jay Robertson, I don't think I've ever seen you so happy." Jay said with a laugh as Jay stopped looking dreamily into space and laughed, too. The next person to arrive at the house was Erika. She wrapped her arms around Bradin's neck a kissed him. Her bag looked a little bulgy, clearly she had a present for Bradin in there. She slumped down onto the sofa, her help not needed at the moment. It wasn't long before she had to get up and make another trip to the toilet, though.

"Why am I the one who has to be sick on a great holiday like Christmas?" Demi asked, to no one in particular, when she came back down the stairs again.

"You didn't throw up again, did you?" Ava asked. Demi shook her head and made her way back the sofa, before having to answer the door.

"Hey." Adam said, smiling, with a present in his hand.

"Hey." Demi said, immediately cheering up and kissing him, before telling him to come in. "Put that present under the tree. It's a rule that we all open them together." Demi told him, grinning.

"Yes, ma'am." He joked. "You feeling any better today?" He asked, sitting down next to Demi after putting his present under the tree.

"No." Demi said miserably. "But I won't complain. It's Christmas, right? I'm not going to bring everyone down." She said with a smile. A knock at the door and quick footsteps running towards the door to answer it told Demi that Cam had arrived without even having to turn to check.

"Hey, Cam." Demi heard a very happy Nikki say.

"I hope this Christmas goes well. it's about time I had a proper one." Demi said, snuggling up to Adam who had his arm around her.

"It will. I promise." He gave her a soft kiss on the forehead.

"I love you, Adam." Demi said, smiling before looking up and kissing him on the lips.

"Love you too."

"What times dinner out?" They heard Bradin ask.

"We're waiting for Colby." Ava informed him. It was half an hour before Susannah came through the door, having picked Colby up from his house and brought him. They were all soon seated around the table, eating Christmas dinner. It was delicious and they all thanked Ava, Nikki and Isabelle. They all sat and talked and laughed. Everything was so picture perfect to Demi. Once they had all finished their dinner, they pulled crackers with one another, reading out the terribly corny jokes and wearing the silly hats. They remained around the table whilst everyone finished their drinks and joked with one another. A sudden wave of nausea rushed over Demi. She shot up like a bullet and ran up the stairs. Once again she didn't make the toilet and threw up outside the door instead. She groaned and cleaned it up before walking back down the stairs. Everyone looked at her. She felt so uncomfortable and embarrassed.

"Sorry." She said timidly.

"Don't be silly, it's not your fault." Ava said comfortingly.

"Now." Johnny said, rather loudly so everyone would listen. "It's time for presents!" They were all only allowed to open one present each and the rest were to be opened on the morning. They all sat around the sofa and chairs, some people on the sofa, some on the armchairs, some sitting on the arms of the chairs, some people standing and everyone else sitting on the floor. Demi and Adam had to be two of the people on the floor, seeing as there was no room. Johnny would pick a present randomly from under the tree and the person whom it belonged to would open it, and they would repeat this until everyone had opened one. Johnny rummaged around.

"And this one's for… Nikki!" Johnny announced. He passed her the present.

"From Cam." She said, reading the label and smiling. She opened it to find a gorgeous necklace and tennis bracelet.

"I love it!" She said, swinging her arms around his neck and hugging him.

"The next one's for… Derrick!" Johnny announced again.

"Cool, a new xbox game!" Derrick cried happily once he'd ripped the wrapping paper off.

"Not that you didn't hint for that like every day, D." Bradin laughed. Everyone chuckled a little at this, too.

"The next one's for… Ava!"

"From… Demi." Ava said, smiling at Demi once she'd read it and began ripping off the paper.

"Perfume and… how did you know I wanted this fabric?" Ava asked, beaming.

"Being nosy comes in handy." Demi laughed. Johnny eventually read out most of the names, all except for Demi now.

"And now here's your present, Demi!" She smiled as she took it off him. She put her hand to the paper, about to rip it off.

"Oh God." She said quickly, to which she received many confused looks. She sprung up and ran, but it was pointless. She didn't even make it to the stairs this time before she threw up. "I'm so sorry." She said as she began to clean up. No one spoke much until she cleaned herself up and came and sat back down. She quickly ripped off the wrapping paper and found a beautiful necklace from Adam. "Thank you." She said, flinging her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly.

"Demi?" Ava sad slowly.

"Yeah?" Demi said, standing up to stretch her legs as everyone who'd sat on the floor did.

"I've been thinking… I mean, I'm not trying to say… Demi, me and you are the same for this, so I'm just going to ask. Have you had your period?" The question stunned the room, especially Demi. Everyone was waiting for her to say 'Of course I have'. Demi thought about it. She hadn't. Ava took her silence to mean no, but could see that Demi had only just realised. "Demi, have you and Adam been safe every time you've had sex?" Ava asked bluntly.

"Yeah." Adam said quickly. "I mean, we've only had sex once, it was ages ago, Demi isn't pregnant." Adam said with a nervous laugh. Demi slowly looked from Adam to Bradin. Tears were prickling in her eyes.

"You didn't wear a condom, did you? That night on holiday." A tear rolled down her cheek. Both Demi and Bradin were as white as a sheet, looking as guilty as hell. Silence filled the room as everyone looked from Demi to Bradin.

"Shit." He said finally, burying his face in his hands. Tears began to roll thick and fast down Demi's face now. She was pregnant. _Pregnant._ She sure as hell wasn't ready for a baby.

"I don't believe this." Erika said, sounding furious, getting up to leave.

"Erika, no! It was a mistake, we were drunk!" Bradin cried, running after her. A tear had now rolled down Erika's cheek, too.

"Bradin, can you remember when we were on the beach on the first day on holiday? And you told me that relationships need trust? Well, we don't have that, Bradin, not anymore."

"Erika…"

"It _over_, Bradin." And with that she fled from the house. Demi had slumped to the floor and was sobbing. She looked up at Adam. The hurt on his face was unbearable to see.

"I'm so sorry, Adam. I'm so sorry." She said through thick sobs. "It just happened, we were drunk." Her face was soaking wet now. He looked her full in the face, before getting up and leaving. The room stayed in an eerie silence, except for the sounds of Demi's sobs and Bradin snivelling, slumped on the floor against the door. No one knew what to do. Ava had never been faced with a situation like this before. What are you supposed to do when you find out that your nephew and your husbands niece have slept together in a drunken one night stand and gotten pregnant?

"Maybe we should go." Jay said quietly. Ava silently nodded to him and he, Isabelle and Danny left through the back door, seeing as Bradin was blocking the front one.

"Take Bradin to his room." Ava whispered to Johnny. "I'll take Demi to hers. Just comfort him." Ava walked over to the uncontrollably sobbing Demi. "Come on, sweetie." She said, offering her hand to help her up. After a moment or so Demi took it and Ava led her to her room. Johnny had gotten Bradin to his room, too.

"I can't… I don't want to be pregnant." Demi said through sobs, which were lessening up ever so slightly now.

"I know, it's ok. We'll get through this. You don't have to keep the baby." Ava said, trying her best to be of comfort to Demi. "Demi… what exactly happened that night?"

"We… we got lots of beer… lots… and alcopops… and vodka… we drank and got really drunk… Bradin just kissed me and it happened, we didn't even stop to think about it." Her sobbing got worse when she'd finally gotten this out. Ava pulled her into a hug.

"We'll get through this, Demi. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"You can't turn back time." Demi said simply. Ava rubbed her arm sympathetically.

"Try and get some sleep. I'm going to go and check on Bradin." Demi nodded and changed into her pyjamas, getting into bed and crying herself to sleep.

--In Bradin's room--

"How are you doing?" Ava asked a tear stained Bradin, who was no longer sobbing but was sat miserably on his bed.

"I loved Erika. And now it's over. And it's all my fault. But the worst thing is I hurt Adam and Erika, but especially Demi. How is she?" he asked, sadly.

"She's… she'll be ok, she's just shocked."

"It's weird. When I look at Demi I see, well, Demi. Not the mother of my child. It sounds so weird."

"I know, but you two are going to have to decide what you're going to do. Bradin, I want you to promise me you'll stick with her whatever she decides to do. I want you to go with her if she gets an abortion, and if she keeps it, well, just make sure you're there for your child, you and Demi don't have to get together."

"Aunt Ava, I'm going to stick by her with whatever she does. I'm the baby's father. God, this sounds weird. I can't believe I'm even saying this, that I'll stick by a _baby!_ But I guess I just know it's the right thing to do."

"Good. Maybe you should talk to Demi, but in the morning, she's probably asleep now."

"You wouldn't think that it's Christmas tomorrow, would you?" Bradin said glumly.

"No." Ava agreed. "You wouldn't." She gave his hand a little squeeze before leaving the room.

--The next morning--

Bradin was awoken by the sound of his little brother and sister, happily unwrapping Christmas presents and thanking Ava and Johnny for them. He didn't want to join in the fun. He knew what he had to go and do. He left his room, silencing the happy, present-opening family in the front room. He gave them a faint smile as he made his way to Demi's room. He opened the door and wasn't surprised to see she was awake. He also wasn't surprised to see she was cuddling the teddy that Johnny had given her once upon a time.

"Hey." He said, closing the door behind him.

"Hey." She said, looking back down immediately after she'd spoke.

"You ok?" He asked, a little awkwardly. She looked up at him.

"I honestly don't know." She said, shrugging her shoulders. "I'm just so confused, nothing makes sense and I don't know how to feel, other than scared."

"It'll be ok. I just want you to know that whatever you do, I'll be right there with you. If you want an abortion, I'll go with you. If you want to keep it, then I'll pull my weight, too." Bradin said, taking her hand and giving it a little squeeze. "This is all my fault, and don't say that you need to take some of the blame too, because you don't. If it wasn't for me and wanting to drink, you wouldn't be pregnant." Demi winced a little when he said 'pregnant'. She felt so weird. She felt like she had a tiny alien inside of her. She felt as though it were evil and she was just a host body until it is ready to come out.

"I feel like I've got an alien growing inside of me. An alien that's had me up 4 times through the night to throw up. Merry Christmas to me." She said sarcastically. Bradin couldn't help but smirk.

"It's not an alien, it's just a baby. And you don't have to play 'host' to it if you don't want to, we could book an abortion and get it over and done with. It's up to you."

"Thanks, Bradin."

"For what?" he asked, though smiling comfortingly at her.

"For being here and being so supportive. I don't know what I'm doing with 'the alien' yet, though."

"Well, it _is_ Christmas, wanna go and open your presents?" Demi smiled and nodded, finally getting out of her bed.

"Hey, you two." Ava said, smiling at them. "Here, Demi, have this." She said, referring to the steaming cup and pile of biscuits next to it.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Ginger tea and ginger biscuits. It's helps with morning sickness." Ava said, giving her a smile.

"Thanks." Demi said, hugging her, before blowing and sipping on her tea. Derrick came over and hugged Demi, thanking her for the astronomy book. Demi kinda wished everyone wouldn't pull her so close when they hugged her, her boobs were killing her. Nikki thanked her for the makeup and told her she loved the bag. Bradin also thanked her for his presents before they all called her over top open the last pile of presents belonging to her. "Ok." Demi gave in, draining her tea and eating the last biscuit. She opened the presents, receiving a lot of makeup, jewellery, expensive perfumes, a new hairdryer from Ava, which she was very thankful for since her had been on the fritz. There were other random presents too, like books and so on. She smiled the best she could and looked around the room. Her face dropped a little when she saw the necklace Adam had gotten her lying on the coffee table. She picked up the chain in her hand, the little heart pendant dangling. She stared at it. There was no way that Adam was ever going to forgive her for this. She couldn't believe that they were over, he'd been so perfect to her and she just hurt him. She couldn't believe how stupid she'd been.

"You ok?" She looked up to see Bradin staring at her. She was through with crying and simply nodded her head, laying the necklace back down on the table.

"Are you?" She asked, giving a weak smile. He gave a little shrug.

"I guess. But it's you who I'm worried about the most, I mean, you're carrying a-"

"Alien." Demi finished for him, smirking. "I'm sorry about you and Erika." Demi said sincerely.

"Thanks. I guess we weren't so perfect together lately after all."

"Maybe." She said with a sad smile.

"Hey." Nikki had came over and sat with them, smiling. "Thanks again for the bag, Demi, I love it!"

"You're welcome." Demi said with a smile.

"You ok? And, no, I don't mean in general." Nikki asked. Demi had the feeling she was going to get asked this a lot.

"Yeah. I guess. For now, anyway. I don't know what I'm doing yet, I'm just too confused at the moment, Nik." Nikki nodded understandingly. "What do you think I should do?" Demi asked her, feeling it was about time she got a second opinion, and decided Nikki's would be a good one to get with her being so smart.

"I think… well, I think you and Bradin both need to decide what to do. You could get an abortion, you could keep it, you could put it up for adoption or whatever. I mean, you've got a few choices. I don't know which one I'd choose though, it'd depend on how I felt at the time" Demi nodded.

"Thanks Nik." She said with a smile, though nothing seemed clearer. She returned the smile and went back to see the rest of the family. "What about you?" She asked Bradin.

"I- I don't know. I think maybe we should give it a week or so, give ourselves time to think straight instead of making the decision now while we're both really confused." Demi thought this was a pretty good answer. She smiled and nodded.

"Yeah. That's a pretty good idea."

P/S: A nice long one :D Review and tell me what you think!


	28. Chapter 28

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. Original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews so far, you guys are awesome!!

Chapter 28:

--

Bradin and Demi had done as Bradin had said and left it for a week. Of course, the week was hell for Demi and involved a lot of puking, but she put up with it. It would go eventually. She hoped. The Christmas holiday was now over and it was the first day back at school. Demi was dreading facing Adam again. She wondered whether anyone at school would know. Erika and Adam were bound to be pretty pissed off at being cheated on, but Demi couldn't see Adam spreading her pregnancy around. But Erika did say she knew quite a few people at the school who she could've easily told, since she frequently saw students at Mona's Sandbar. There was also Cam, but Demi didn't count on him telling. It was like Nikki had said when they first slept together, he didn't talk to all that many people, he's quite shy, and she couldn't see him having it in him to gossip about it anyway. Demi looked at herself in the mirror. She had chosen to wear a white skirt with a plain, light blue t-shirt. She straightened her outfit and gave herself a good hard look in the mirror. She couldn't help staring at her stomach. She lifted the hem of her t-shirt, revealing her belly. Demi had always had a good figure. She turned left and right, looking at how she looked from all different angles. She ran her hand down her belly. Her eyes widened. Was her belly any bigger?_ 'You're being paranoid, Demi.'_ A voice in her head told her. She continued to stare. She could swear she looked fat. She continued looking from different angles, running her hand over her stomach to see how far out it went. She felt like she was being stupid, but she couldn't help it. A few tears prickled in her eyes. She felt so ugly, she felt fat, even though she knew she was in the earliest stages of pregnancy. She prayed that no tears would fall, but one hovered precariously in her eye.

"You ok?" Demi was shocked to see Bradin staring at her from the door. She hated when people asked what's wrong when you were upset, it only makes you cry. She didn't drop her t-shirt, but looked down at her belly.

"Do I look fatter?" She asked, her voice quivering.

"What? Demi, your stomachs flat as a board, your only a few weeks pregnant!" Bradin said incredulously. A tear fell down her cheek. Bradin couldn't believe the thought had even crossed her mind.

"It's bigger." She said, referring to her stomach, her voice becoming croakier. Bradin only just remembered about women being _way _too hormonal when they were pregnant. He pulled her into a hug.

"You're perfect." He told her, gently stroking her hair. "And in no way are you fat. This baby will have to be in there a good month or so if it's going to start showing. Don't worry, Demi, your beautiful." He pulled out of the embrace, wiping the tear from her face.

"Thanks." She sniffed with a little smile. "Bradin… you don't think people at school will know, do you? Adam or Erika won't have told, will they?" Demi asked, worried.

"I don't know, but I kinda doubt it." Demi nodded.

"You won't tell anyone, will you?" She asked, looking up at him. He could see the fear in her eyes, it had gotten slowly worse over time.

"Of course not." He told her gently. "Now come on, or else we'll be late for school."

--15 minutes later--

"Thanks, Johnny." Demi said as she, Bradin and Nikki left the car. Adam was sat with the rest of the surfers, not really joining in with their conversation. Demi took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Demi and Bradin were both scared of confronting Adam, they'd both betrayed him. They walked slowly towards the surfers.

"Bradin, I've only just thought, what if I need to throw up in school?" Demi asked, panicking.

"Then run out of the room and throw up. Have you brought any ginger biscuits or anything, they've worked quite well lately." He replied.

"Yeah, I've got a few. And they have worked, but they don't fully stop me throwing up, I still do sometimes." Demi said, slightly annoyed. She took another deep breath when they reached the surfers. "Hey, Adam." Demi said in a small voice. He looked at her for a moment, studying her.

"Hey." He replied, not looking at her.

"Adam, can I talk to you for a minute? Alone, I mean." Demi asked timidly.

"Woah, Adam, I think she's breaking up with you, dude. You mind if I give her my shoulder to cry on?" It was Matt. He made Demi's stomach turn. She clenched her hands.

"Shut up, Matt." Bradin snapped. Adam got up after a moment or two and followed Demi, walking into the hallway, which was pretty empty seeing as the bell hadn't gone yet.

"I know I said this before, but I really am sorry. I'd never been drunk before-"

"And that's an excuse." Adam said bitterly.

"No, it's not, I just- I can't believe it happened. If I could turn back time, I would. I regretted it from the moment I woke up and I've been kicking myself ever since that moment. I couldn't believe I'd been unfaithful to you, Adam, I really wasn't lying all the times I said I love you." Demi apologised, beginning to get slightly emotional, as she had done way to easily lately, which annoyed her.

"I wasn't lying when I said I love you, too. I just didn't think you'd ever cheat. It's like, I thought you were the perfect girlfriend," Adam said, looking at her now, "and you're not."

"Don't you think I've been kicking myself like crazy for that!?" Demi said, tears in her eyes from Adam's stinging words. "And I hate myself for that. You are always perfect to me, always! And I ruined it all in one night. I made a mistake, but doesn't everyone? And no, I don't mean everyone does what I did, but we all make mistakes, Adam, even you." She said as a tear rolled from each of her eyes.

"Just because we all make them doesn't mean we should forgive them. That's why they're mistakes." Demi sniffed tearfully. The bell rang above them. "I gotta get to class." He said, leaving her stood in the middle of the hallway, tears descending down her face. She wiped them bitterly. Of course, Adam was right and she'd expected this, but it didn't mean that a small part of her hoped that he'd be forgiving, give her another chance. And this small part of her had just been completely stomped on.

"Demi, what's wrong?" It was Shannon and Stacy, 2 of the girls Demi sits with at lunch. She quickly broke down into sobs, both of them walking her to the bathroom for tissues and to clean herself up.

"Me and Adam are over." She said, wiping her eyes with some tissues. Their mouths dropped.

"I'm so sorry, Demi." Shannon told her. She shook her head in an it-doesn't-matter way and decided against saying it was her fault, not wanting the truth to come out. She stayed in the bathroom for another 5 minutes before she felt she looked ok to go to class, reapplying her mascara and eyeliner. She made her way to English, a class she dreaded, seeing as she usually sat next to Adam. She walked through the door, disappointed to see that the seating arrangements hadn't changed and that she was going to have to survive a whole lesson sitting next to her ex.

"I'm glad you decided to join us, Miss King." Miss Harrison said disapprovingly.

"Sorry, I didn't feel well, Miss." She found Bradin's eyes fixed on her, giving her a look that asked whether she'd thrown up. She gave her head a little shake before taking her seat next to Adam, sitting silently.

Half an hour of the lesson went by, feeling like an eternity. Demi felt a small wave of sickness wash over her. She quickly rummaged in her bag and pulled out a ginger biscuit and ate it as fast as she could, receiving a strange look of Adam, which she ignored.

"No eating in class, Miss King." Miss Harrison said sternly.

"Sorry Miss." The biscuit hadn't helped at all. Another wave of sickness washed over her, a lot worse than the last one. "Shit." She said, causing everyone to look at her as she got up and ran towards the door.

"Miss King, get back in your-" Her sentence was cut short by the sound of Demi throwing up, just as her hand reached the door handle but not quite opening it yet. The class gave their disgusted noises, thoroughly annoying Demi. This 'alien' really had it in for her, it seemed.

"Go and see the nurse." Miss Harrison said angrily, thrusting a hall pass at her, annoyed that she had soiled the floor. Demi sure as hell didn't want to see the school nurse and be asked all the questions she knew were bound to come. She picked up her bag and left. Not just the classroom, but also the school. No one other than the people who already knew were going to find out about her being pregnant. She ruled out going to Mona's sandbar, not quite up to facing Erika. She also ruled out Beyond the blue, not wanting to be a burden to Jay. She ran most of the way home and was there within ten minutes.

"Demi?" Demi knew this voice all too well. She turned to see Ava staring at her from the kitchen, holding onto a mug of coffee dependently.

"I threw up." Demi said. "She wanted me to go to the nurse." Ava stared at her for a long moment, then nodded understandingly.

"Ok." She said. Demi gave a weak smile before joining Ava in the kitchen.

"What am I going to do? I can't keep throwing up in school, what if people start guessing why I'm throwing up so frequently?" Demi asked, pulling a packet of ginger biscuits out of her bag as she began to munch on them.

"We're going to have to work something out, but we'll leave that for later when everyone else is here so we can all help." Demi nodded. "So have you thought about it? You and Bradin have left it a week now." Ava asked.

"I was going to talk to Bradin about it tonight." Demi replied, pouring herself a steaming cup of ginger tea, which seemed to help her a hell of a lot more than the biscuits.

"Oh, I understand if you want to tell him first."

"I- I'm not so confused anymore. I just don't know what to do with it." Demi said, looking down at her belly.

"I know it must be really difficult Demi, we're all trying to get our heads around it, but I know you'll do what's right, no matter what everyone else considers the right thing. You've got a good head on your shoulders." Ava said comfortingly, giving her a smile. "So, how've you been feeling lately, with the baby and everything?"

"Honestly, I think the little alien has it in for me." Ava smirked a little, she'd heard Demi refer to it as an alien once or twice before, never failing to make her smile. "I'm up twice through the night, on a good day! And my boobs have never hurt so much before in my life." Demi said, a little stressfully. "And I'm tired, and I need to pee all the time." Demi continued.

"Well, these are all very common pregnancy symptoms. I'm just wondering how long it will be before you start having cravings." Ava laughed. Ava looked at Demi's thoughtful face. "But of course the pregnancy might not even last that long." Ava said, serious.

"I- I know this little aliens annoying me, and the symptoms of being pregnant couldn't piss me off more if they tried, but I don't… I don't want to 'abort' the baby, it sounds wrong. I mean, I'm all for abortion, women should be able to get them with no hassle, but I'm not sure if _I_ want to do that." Demi said quietly. Demi noticed Ava smiling. "What?"

"You just called it a baby, not an alien." She said with a little laugh.

"I guess I did." Demi subconsciously placed a hand to her stomach, sipping on her ginger tea. Ava considered mentioning this, but decided not to.

The next few hours went by, with Demi only throwing up once, which she was weirdly proud of. Her tiredness had gotten the better of her and she'd drifted off to sleep on the sofa.

"How long as she been asleep?" Demi woke up. "Sorry." Bradin said, not meaning to have been loud enough to wake her up.

"It's ok, I'm a super-light sleeper."

"How're you doing?" He asked curiously.

"Good." Demi said with a smile. "Only threw up once." Bradin laughed a little at this. "Hey, Bradin, can I, um, talk to you for a minute?"

"Yeah, sure." He said, as normally as he could but Demi could sense that he was a little nervous. Bradin led her to his room, which was the closest.

"We've had about a week to think about this." Demi said, sitting on the bed, entwining her fingers and resting them on her stomach, subconsciously.

"I know." Bradin said, exhaling loudly.

"I want to know what you think first." Demi told him. Bradin wished that she hadn't said that, but respected her wishes.

"To be honest with you, Dem, I don't know. I mean, I'll go through with whatever you decide to do, I think you should have the final decision. But… well, all the weeks you've been pregnant so far have been ok, with a bit of sick here and there, but that's to be expected. It's up to you, I just wanna do whatever you do."

"… I'm all for abortion, I think you should be able to get it and all that, but something is telling me not to abort the baby. I don't know what it is, I just don't think I should do it. But I had another idea. There's loads of infertile people out there who'd love to have kids, and we could put the baby up for adoption straight away so that a couple gets to have a baby from it being a newborn instead of from toddlers and older kids."

"You said 'baby'." Bradin said with a cheeky smile.

"Bradin!" Demi laughed.

"Ok, sorry. So you say we don't kill the baby, but we don't keep it either and give it to a couple who really want kids? Have you been watching _Juno_ lately?" Bradin said with a little laugh.

"Make jokes, but I have always thought that adoption is a good idea instead of abortion, since long before _Juno_ came out, I just never really thought I'd need to make this decision, especially not at this age."

"Are you sure that's what you want to do?" Demi paused for a moment, then nodded her head.

"That's the way I feel at the moment." She replied. "But what about school? Me and Ava have both agreed that we'll have to work something out, but I can't really stop being sick."

"We can pass it off as a flu for a while, maybe, but then eventually… we'll just have to tell the truth, and tell everyone what we're doing with the baby. And I don't know about you, but I couldn't give a crap about what they think."

"You're not the one whose going to carry the evidence around with you everywhere. Everyone loves Adam, so they'll hate me and call me a slag. You'll just get a pat on the back." Demi said, looking down at her stomach.

"Demi, I'm going to be here for you all the time. If anyone says anything at school I swear I'll sort them out. I'm making a promise to you that I'll be there whenever you need me, no matter what." Demi couldn't help but smile up at him after he said this. He pulled her into a tight hug. "Everything's going to work out in the end, Dem, just you watch."


	29. Chapter 29

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. Original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

A/N: Ok, I'm posting this chapter and the next one today, since I don't think you find out much in this. Thanks to everyone whose reviewed, you guys are amazing!

Chapter 29:

--

Another week had passed since Demi and Bradin's decision to put the baby up for adoption, and the whole family had been told of their intentions. Demi had worked out that she was now 8 weeks pregnant. She could barely believe it when she got out her calendar and checked. She was on the internet, looking everything up. Since she was 8 weeks pregnant, the baby is now officially a foetus. This kind of scared Demi. This also meant all it's vital organs are going to start growing. Demi could hardly believe the baby was being classed as a foetus when it's the size of a large grape. Also it has a large head and webbed hands and feet. She took some comfort in knowing that the baby was only grape size, though she will have gained weight to get it there.

"What are you doing?" Bradin had began to come and talk to Demi a lot more often, feeling it was his duty to check on her.

"Researching our grape." Demi said simply. She laughed at the puzzled look she received, before highlighting the words on her laptop and turning it for him to look at.

"Ah." He laughed. "So I guess it's got a new nickname?"

"Yup." She smiled. "I can't wait until I can call it melon." They both laughed.

"What's this?" Bradin said, looking at the other internet tabs.

"Nothing." She shrugged, trying to sound casual as she turned the screen away from him.

"Your already looking at maternity clothes?" Bradin asked, a little incredulously, though smirking.

"I'm just being prepared. I'll have to start wearing them at some point." Bradin stole the laptop off her lap. "Hey!"

"Your not going to need to start wearing maternity clothes until… well it changes with everyone." Bradin said, defeated, when the website gave him no specific date.

"See." She said, sticking her tongue out at him. "But I was quite slim before I got pregnant, so my belly's going to show first and my legs are going to get huge." Although she tried not to sound it, Bradin could tell she was really upset about this. "I guess it's just another way for the grape to torture me." Bradin smiled a little.

"Demi, you're still skinny and beautiful, and you'll still be beautiful even at the end of the pregnancy when the bump comes out like 5 feet." Demi laughed.

"My thighs are already getting bigger." She said once she'd recovered from laughing, looking down at them and pinching the skin.

"No they're not, your just paranoid."

"No, I've been measuring myself. They're nearly an inch bigger." Bradin rolled his eyes and they both sat at the head of Demi's bed, looking through websites and maternity clothes and deciding when they thought Demi should start wearing them.

--A little while later--

"I swear, the selections terrible." Demi said as she walked into the front room with Bradin.

"What selection?" Ava asked, pouring her a cup of ginger tea.

"Maternity clothes. Why is it that they are ALL black, white or grey? If I wanted to look like a chess board, I would've asked." Ava chuckled as she stirred the tea and handed it to Demi.

"Thanks, Ava." She said, blowing on it before taking a little sip. Demi's moods had been changing quite a bit lately, and at the moment she was really happy, possibly hyper. "Oh, and I've got news." Demi said, grinning. Ava, Johnny and Nikki looked up at her. She jumped to the side and pointed at her stomach. "It's the size of a big grape!" Ava laughed a little, shaking her head.

"Ava, I need a girls opinion, since I think Bradin's is stupid." Demi laughed. "When do I wear maternity clothes?"

"Well, it's different for everyone. I know that with Bradin, his mom didn't start wearing maternity until she was 5 months, but she started wearing them at 12 weeks with Derrick. I think it tends to take longer to show with your first child, but as soon as your normal clothes get too small for you is when I say you should wear maternity." Demi thought about this for a moment.

"I like your opinion better than mine." Demi laughed. "Bradin… I've been thinking of getting an ultrasound. Wanna come?"

"Yeah, of course!" he said, smiling.

"Can I come, Demi? I want to see my niece or nephew." Nikki said with a smile. "Ooh! Are you going to find out the sex of the baby?"

"Would they be able to tell yet?" Demi laughed. "Because remember, it's a grape now."

"I don't think they'll be able to tell." Ava chimed in. "It's usually at about 16-20 weeks."

"I have to wait 2 months?" Demi said incredulously. "Do you still think I should make a doctors appointment?"

"Of course. You need to see if it's healthy." Demi nodded in agreement. "Do you have a phone number for the doctors?"

"It'll be in the little book by the phone." Ava informed her as she started to make lunch for them, seeing as it was Saturday. Demi was on the phone for about 5 minutes before she came back to tell them her appointment.

"They can't fit me in for about 3 weeks, so I'll be 11 weeks when I have the ultrasound. It's on a Tuesday at 12:30. Sorry, Nik, you'll have to go to school."

"Can I come to the next one? You know, the one where we find out the sex?"

"Maybe." Demi teased.

"So, you got any more pregnancy symptoms yet? Cravings, mood swings…" Johnny asked, a little pointedly. Ava gave him a little nudge in the side, not looking up from cutting sandwiches.

"The grapes favourite one at the moment is making me have to run to the loo every ten minutes." Demi told him with a little laugh. She sighed after a moment. "People are already wondering why I keep throwing up. I think the grape just wants its presence to be known." Demi said, a little annoyed.

"What do they say when you tell them it's just the flu or a bug?" Ava asked.

"Wonder why I'm at school, or ask if I've been to the doctor since it's so bad… I don't want everyone to know I'm pregnant, but I don't want an abortion either. There's loads of infertile people who'd kill to have a baby, and be like a proper mom and have it as soon as possible when it's still newborn and tiny. I want to give them that, but I don't want everyone else to know."

"I think you're just going to have to let them know eventually, Demi. I mean, what are you going to say a few months down the line when you've got clearly visible bump?" Johnny asked.

"I know, you're right. I will have to just tell them, but it's going to be really hard to do. I mean, everyone will just jump to conclusions and think it's Adam's, but when I tell them it's Bradin's I'll look like a two-timing whore. It's a lose-lose situation." Demi said, gritting her teeth a little.

"Well if it's a lose-lose situation then you'll just have to tell them and not care what they think. Just ignore it all, Demi." Johnny said, trying to be comforting.

"But if everyone in school starts calling me a whore and everything it's obviously going to upset me, especially since grape's in there." Demi said, looking down at her stomach and poking it.

"It'll all work out, Demi, we'll just have to put up with a little bit of shit at first, but it'll work out." Bradin said. He'd began to pick up on the type of things you should say to a pregnant woman and not have your head bit off.

"Thanks." She said with a little smile.

"Lunch is ready!" Ava called, and everyone came to fetch their plates.

--Later that night--

The smell of salt water filled Demi's nose as she walked down the beach. She'd decided to take a walk and sit by the rocks to relax. Well, it was more to calm down, since she'd just thrown up and was angry at the baby, but knew stress was bad for it. She walked with her arms folded and her head bowed slightly, playa Linda's night breeze nipping a little at her skin. She sat down on the rocks as soon as she found some. She looked out at the waves, watching them rise and crash back down. She'd tried her best not to look upset or bothered by her situation lately, trying to put on a face and pretend everything was fine, but of course she knew it wasn't. She was _pregnant!_ And in 7 months she'd have to give birth, if the baby isn't premature or late, that is. Or if she doesn't change her mind and just abort it. Why didn't she stop Bradin in the hotel room when he kissed her? She'd lost her first boyfriend, and her first love. She'd been trying not to think about Adam, but of course her mind wandered to him now and then. He had been her first for a lot of things. First kiss, first boyfriend. She'd even lost her virginity to him! She wished he'd take her back, but she knew that it just isn't in the cards.

It suddenly dawned on her that she was sat in the same place she'd sat when she first met Adam. When he'd threw a ball at her head and insisted on carrying her home all hero-like, thinking he'd really hurt her. She smiled fondly at this memory, almost about to laugh, but had to fight back tears, thinking of how much she missed him. She decided sitting in that spot probably wasn't the best idea. She set of, walking over the rocks until she found somewhere she could just relax and not think at all. She saw someone sitting on a rock in the distance, looking out at the waves as she had done not long ago. She continued walking. The persons silhouette was becoming slightly clearer. Upon walking a little further she discovered it was a boy. She continued walking, the boy on the rock not seeming important. She cast another glance in his direction when she walked a little further. Her mouth dropped slightly when she realised she knew who he was. She turned and walked in their direction, instead of walking past them as she had been. She opened her mouth to say 'Hi', trying to make sure no nerves were portrayed in her voice. However, he beat her to it.

"Hi." He said, turning round and looking up at her. His voice was void of emotion when speaking to her.

"Hey, Adam." Demi replied, knowing her voice had quivered a little but could no longer care, she couldn't be bothered with worrying and trying to cover up. "Can I sit here?" She asked after a few moments hesitation, not sure whether she wanted to confront him or not.

"It's a free country, sit wherever you want." Adam said, still lacking signs of any emotion. Demi sighed when she sat down.

"Adam, I'm only going to say this one more time. I'm truly sorry, more than I think you'll ever know or understand, if the way you've been treating me lately is anything to go by."

"You weren't the only one who got hurt, y'know, Demi."

"I know, and that's why I'm apologising. It absolutely tore me apart once I was sober. Adam, it was a stupid mistake, and me and Bradin both regret it, because I was unfaithful to my boyfriend who I love and he stabbed his best friend in the back. Don't you think it's killing us?"

"Yeah, well it's been killing me, too. Probably been killing Erika, too, but I haven't spoken to her since Christmas eve."

"I know." Demi said with a defeated sigh. "I just wish it was different. And I've been trying my hardest to think what am I supposed to do, is there one thing I can do for you to at least talk to me again, and I can't think of anything. So I'm just going to come straight out and ask you, what can I do to make things better, at least a little bit? Because I've given my apology plenty of times now and I think you should know that I mean every word of it, because I love you." Demi and Adam stared at each other for a long moment. Adam was the first to look away.

"I know you mean that you're sorry," he said, sadness creeping into his voice. "but I'm still hurting because of it all. On Christmas eve, when you looked at Bradin and said you didn't use a condom, I was devastated. I was just shocked and I couldn't speak, I just wanted to get out as soon as I could. I just wish… I don't know what you can do. I just want my non-cheating girlfriend back." Adam finally looked back at her. Tears were in the corners of her eyes, but she was determined not to let them fall. They sat in silence, Demi's tears beginning to hover precariously. She couldn't help it, she just did what she felt she needed to do. She flung her arms around his neck, hugging him.

"I'm so sorry, Adam, I truly am. I don't know why it happened. And I've missed you so much." Demi sobbed. "And everything's just so messed up. I hate myself… I hate myself for doing this to you. You're always so perfect and I don't deserve you, but I'd give anything for you to forgive me." Demi continued to sob. Adam was shocked. He wasn't sure whether to hug her back or push her away. The irresistible smell of her hair drifted up to his nostrils, the feel of it on his skin, the feel of her skin on his. He hugged her back, pulling her close and stroking her hair. He'd wanted to touch her again for so long, but had been so set on never talking to her properly again.

"I'm sorry, too, Dem." Tear's prickled uncontrollably in his eyes too, falling after a moment. They sat crying in each other's arms, until they'd both controlled stopped their sobbing and crying. "I've missed you, too. God, I've missed you so much." He said with a shaky laugh. Demi gave a watery smile.

"Me too. And… if we ever gave it another shot, I'd never, _ever_ cheat again. You mean too much to me. And I swear I'm never touching alcohol again." Demi said with a little laugh.

"I wanna take things slow." Adam said, grabbing Demi's hand. "Not rush into things, y'know? And if it doesn't work out again, well then maybe it won't hurt as much."

"Thank you. And maybe this is one of those 'moving too fast' things, but I don't care." Demi laughed. "I love you Adam. I've loved you this whole time we've been split up. I never stopped thinking about you."

"Me either." Adam said, pulling her into another hug. "I love you, too."

P/S: Like having Demi and Adam back together?? Tell me what you think :D


	30. Chapter 30

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. Original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

A/N: Here it is, as promised, chapter 30 today, too :D

Chapter 30:

--

"Wanna come inside?" Demi asked Adam with a smile when he'd finished walking her home.

"Sure." Adam replied, returning the smile, both of them finding it hard not to smile as they were both so happy just to be talking again.

"Feeling any bet-," Bradin began, seeing Demi coming through the door. "Hey, Adam."

"Hey." Adam said, trying his best to smile at Bradin, even though he still hadn't forgiven him for sleeping with his girlfriend and getting her pregnant.

"Um, are you two…" Bradin began.

"We're… cool now. Just taking things slow, y'know?" Demi told him with a smile.

"Ok. Well I've made you some ginger tea over there, make sure you drink it." Bradin said, before disappearing to his room. Adam followed Demi over to the kitchen and looked at her curiously as she sat and drank her tea with ginger biscuits.

"Ok, you had ginger biscuits in English, too." Adam laughed. "Why are you eating them all the time?"

"Morning sickness." Demi informed him, before taking another sip of her tea. Adam's mouth formed a small 'o', showing he understood. He knew in the back of his mind that Demi was pregnant but he kind of forgot about it whenever he was with her, and he hadn't even thought about pregnancy symptoms.

"So… what are you doing with it?" Adam asked. Demi knew he had been dying to ask.

"I'm going to give it to a infertile couple or something, so they can have a baby from newborn and be like real parents." Demi told him, again subconsciously putting her hand to her stomach for a second.

"What are you going to do when you get a bump?"

"I guess I'll have to come clean and tell. But I'm not ready for that yet, I don't want to face all the 'slag' comments, especially when they find out it's not yours. And before you say it," Demi said quickly as he opened his mouth to speak, "I'm going to try ignore everyone, but of course it's going to upset me. You seriously don't know how emotional pregnant women can get." Demi said with a little laugh. Adam simply nodded.

"I'll be here for you when you do tell."

"Thanks. At least now I've got you _and _Bradin on my side in school." Demi laughed. "Bradin said basically the same thing." Demi drained the last of her tea. She stood up and smiled at Adam, before wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him. She was thankful that the kiss lasted, a kiss that they'd both wanted to happen for so long. It built in passion, both of them kissing each other dependently. Demi was backed up until she reached the counter. Demi tangled her hand in Adams hair as she'd been longing to do. Adam pulled Demi close, his arms around her waist, until they physically couldn't be any closer.

"Adam?" Demi and Adam broke apart quickly to find that Ava and Johnny had just walked into the room.

"Hi." Adam replied, flushing. He quickly made an excuse to leave and Demi filled Ava and Johnny in on how they were back together.

--2 weeks later--

Demi and Adam are still pretty happy, but taking things just as slow as they have been since the day they got back together. Demi laid on her bed. She was pretty nervous about her ultrasound, which was 3 days away. She decided to look up what her baby will be like now, searching 11 weeks, as that's how far along she would be in 3 days.

"Oh my God." Demi said to herself, amazed at what she read. "Bradin!!" She shouted, needing to tell someone else. She heard fast footsteps.

"What is it?" Bradin asked, panicked. He'd became super worried about Demi and the baby lately, coming as fast as he could whenever she beckoned him.

"Look at this!" She said, moving over on her bed so he could sit with her. "It says that the baby's passed the most critical stage of developing, and now it can make fists and stuff! It can suck all the liquid and it can move! How cool is that. And here's the best bit: _The foetus can kick, punch and arch her body." _Bradin read the full page and smiled.

"Have you felt it kick or anything?"

"No." Demi laughed. "I don't think it's strong enough yet. But I can't wait until it can." Demi said, excited. They looked through pictures. Demi laughed. "It really _does _look like an alien at the moment." She looked down at her stomach. "It is a little bigger now." She said, lifting her t-shirt.

"It's not noticeably bigger, its only like a centimetre bigger or something. And anyway, you were really skinny before the pregnancy, so you probably won't get massive. Trust me, if anyone looked at you, they'd still think skinny, it's going to be a while before people think fat, then click onto pregnant." Bradin laughed. They decided to look through pictures of other women who are 11 weeks pregnant.

"Why are they all so much bigger than me? Some aren't that much, but most are." Demi said with a little laugh.

"It's because most of them probably started out bigger than you to begin with."

"I s'pose. Too bad our baby's sex organs aren't 'externally visible' yet." Demi said with air quotes. They sat quietly for a moment, looking through websites. Demi put her hand to her stomach and put some pressure onto it. Her eyes widened a little. She quickly removed her hand and replaced it with Bradin's. "Can you feel that!? The little guy must be swimming or something." Demi laughed. Bradin's jaw dropped a little as he added a little more pressure on his hand. Demi could feel the smallest flutters in her lower belly. "I can feel little flutters! And if I can feel them a little bit now, imagine how it'll feel in a few weeks." Demi couldn't help feel excited. The prospect of having a living being inside of her scared her, but at times, like this one, she liked it a little, especially since she could feel the baby moving a little bit.

"Hey…" Demi looked up to see Adam stood at the door, looking at his girlfriend sat with Bradin on the bed, Bradin with his hands on her.

"The baby's moving." Demi said, trying to sound casual but they all knew she was saying it to explain.

"Ava let me in, I'm not, um, disturbing or anything, am I?"

"Of course not." Demi said with a little smile.

"I was just about to go, anyway." Bradin said with a nervous smile, before getting up and leaving. Adam took Bradin's place on the bed. He gave Demi a quick kiss.

"You mind if I feel the baby?" Adam asked with a smile. Demi shook her head and took his hand, placing it firmly on her stomach.

"Can you feel it?" She asked.

"A little." He replied.

"Demi!" Nikki had came flying into the room. "Bradin said the baby's moving!" Demi laughed and took her hand, placing it firmly onto her stomach as she had done with Bradin and Adam's hands. "That is so cool." Nikki said in a whisper. They all went back in the living room, and soon everyone was asking for a feel.

--2 days later--

It was Monday, which means there's only one days left until the ultrasound. They'd decided to get Ava to phone up on the morning to say Demi and Bradin had dentist appointments, but they both thought that they probably wouldn't go in for the afternoon. Demi was happy to read that feeling tired and nausea would soon pass, and her vomiting had been lessening up lately. The morning routine went by as normal and soon enough Demi, Bradin and Nikki were all getting out of the car and going into school.

"This top doesn't look right." Demi said after a moment of walking with Bradin.

"Of course it does, your being paranoid." He told her firmly.

"No, Bradin, look. It's kinda curved. I know it's not huge but that's a bump." Demi said, her heart race increasing. Bradin could sense the nerves in her voice.

"No one's going to notice, like you said, it's tiny. And you can just pass it off as gaining weight, which isn't entirely a lie." Bradin said, trying to keep her calm.

"I don't want people to think I'm just getting fat!"

"They won't! Demi, would you rather they thought you put on weight normally or they knew the real reason?" Bradin asked. Demi but her lip and gave a defeated sigh. "That's what I thought. And it's not even a bad curve, it's one of them good ones, gives you a little more to hold onto but not fat…" Bradin said, smirking. Demi elbowed him in the side.

"Shut up." She said, though laughing. She met with Adam just in time for the bell to go and walked into school hand in hand.

--Later--

Demi made it through the school day without throwing up once, and had been happier than she had been in a long time lately. As soon as she got in she would constantly feel her stomach, trying to feel the baby. She figured it must be asleep at the moment, seeing as she couldn't feel a thing.

"Ultrasound tomorrow." Bradin said, sitting down next to her.

"God, don't remind me, I'm so nervous." She said with a shaky laugh.

"Everything's gunna be fine." Bradin said comfortingly.

"Aren't you a little nervous, too?" Bradin paused for a moment.

"Yeah, a little bit, But I know that it's probably nothing to worry about, and that the baby will be fine."

"We'll probably only get two scan's, y'know." Demi told him, putting her head on his shoulder. "This one and then one at about 18-20 weeks, then that's it. Unless there's complications. Then we're on our own."

"Shouldn't we be hoping we only get 2 scans, then? So that there's no complications?"

"I guess. I just want to see it when it's bigger, too, that's all."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. We could pay to have one of them 4-D ones done." Bradin suggested.

"Maybe." Demi smiled, before jumping a little.

"What's wrong?" Bradin asked, concerned.

"I think someone just woke up." Demi smiled after feeling a tiny flutter. She pushed her hand gently into her stomach to see if the baby was moving, so to confirm her suspicions. "Yup, baby's up." She laughed.


	31. Chapter 31

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. Original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

A/N: Read and review :D I might post the next chapter today, too, since I quite like how evil it is. I won't say anymore… cackles evilly lol

Chapter 31:

--

Demi was awoken by the need to run to the toilet and vomit.

"Urgh." She groaned. The vomiting had seriously decreased, but through the night seemed to be the baby's favourite torture for Demi. She looked at the clock, and thought she might as well get up now anyway. She made herself some cereal, along with a cup of ginger tea and ginger biscuits. She was startled when the phone rang. It was only 6:30, who would be ringing at this time? She answered it nervously.

"…Hello?…" She said.

"Demi, is that you?" Demi recognised the voice.

"Yeah. Jay?"

"Yeah. Listen, I've got news. Isabelle just had the baby!"

"That's great!" Demi said, a little louder than she'd expected but no one else in the house was as light of a sleeper as she was, so she figured she was safe. "Tell me everything!"

"We've decided to name her Lily. She was 7 pounds 5 ounces. She's absolutely beautiful." Jay said dreamily. Demi smiled.

"Was Isabelle in labour long?" Demi asked curiously.

"No, she just thought she had a stomach ache at first and an hour later, here she is! She totally healthy, too." Jay chirped. "Anyway, I've gotta make more phone calls, but you were the first I phoned. I'll see you later."

"Bye." The call was ended with a 'click'. Demi ran upstairs to tell everyone, not bothered of whether they'd be mad because of the early hour, although they'd normally get up around now anyway. She decided to tell Ava and Johnny first. She shook them awake. "Hey, guy's, wake up!"

"What's wrong? Is everything ok?" Ava asked, beginning to panic.

"Yeah, everything's great! Isabelle just had the baby! 7 pound 5 ounces, healthy little girl called Lily!"

"That's great!" Ava exclaimed, waking fully now.

"I'm gunna go tell Nikki now." Demi said before dashing out of the room, smiling. She ran up to Nikki's room, shaking her awake. "Nikki… wake up… I've got good news!"

"Hmm?" Nikki said, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

"Isabelle had the baby. A little girl called Lily. 7 pound, 5 ounces." Demi smiled as Nikki's face lit up. Nikki loved baby's, and was no doubt going to be round Jay's and Isabelle's as soon as they brought the baby home. Nikki quickly got out of bed, happily, to get ready for the day. Demi went downstairs to finally tell Bradin, as Ava was telling Susannah and Derrick. "Bradin, wake up!" She said once she reached his room, shaking him awake.

"What's wrong? Are you ok? How's the baby?" Bradin said, rushed, sitting bolt upright.

"We're fine! But I've got good baby news!"

"What?"

"Isabelle just give birth. Little girl called Lily. 7 pound 5." Demi said, smiling.

"That's great!" Bradin exclaimed, smiling. "What time is it?"

"About half 6." Bradin stared at Demi incredulously. She simply laughed. "Get your lazy bones out of bed, we've got an ultrasound for _our_ baby later." Demi only realised how weird saying '_our_ baby' to Bradin sounded after she'd just said it. Bradin looked like he was thinking the same thing, but she simply smiled at him and left the room, not wanting an awkward situation.

Demi sat and ate the rest of her breakfast, gradually being joined by the rest of the family. Nikki was ecstatic about baby Lily and soon phoned Jay to ask when they could all come see her. By the end of the phone call Nikki had told Jay she was going to their house straight from school. It wasn't long before Johnny had gotten Nikki and Derrick into the car, and Demi and Bradin were left to wait for their upcoming ultrasound. _'__Why am I so nervous?_ Demi asked herself. It was, after all, just an ultrasound. But the thought of seeing the little thing that's been _growing_ inside of her, which she joked about '_playing host__'_to, even though that's technically what she was doing. She was going to see it on screen. It will still be tiny, but Demi was slightly terrified. She knew that there was next to no chance that she would find out the sex, but she wanted to see her baby, to see whether it had distinct features of hers or Bradin's. The thing she wanted the most, terrified her. It was so strange, she'd never felt like this before, she was just so confused because of it.

"Hey." Bradin said, entering the room from his bedroom. Demi had been sat silently on the sofa, pondering over all these things, thinking only of her baby.

"Hey." She said quietly, looking up at him for a moment. She looked down at her watch. Time seemed to be mocking her, as it was only quarter to 9. "3 and a half hours." She said, a little slowly, raising her eyebrows slightly.

"Still nervous?" Bradin asked, sitting next to her. She nodded her head.

"Don't be." He said, as comfortingly as he could muster. "Everything's gunna be fine."

"I hope so. I just wish that the time would go by faster." Demi said, annoyed.

"Why don't you go to sleep? That thing must be making you tired, and you've been up a little while now. Morning sickness?"

"Yeah." Demi said, nodding her head, slightly annoyed with her baby. She eventually decided to take Bradin's advice and go to sleep, telling him to wake her up no later than 11:45, seeing as they had to be at the hospital for 12:30.

--

Bradin had done as he promised and woken Demi up at 11:45, lending Johnny's car to drive them to the hospital. They sat mostly in silence for the drive to the hospital, but it wasn't very awkward, they were both consumed in their own thoughts, both of them thinking about the ultrasound. Demi took a deep breath and exhaled slowly when they finally parked up outside the hospital.

"You ready?" Bradin asked, seeing her stare up at the hospital. She smiled and nodded. They waited anxiously in the waiting room before being called in.

"My, my, my, doesn't this explain a lot." Demi turned, horrified, to see Courtney near the door.

"Courtney! W-what are you doing here?" Demi asked, panicking.

"I've just been for an abortion. Hmm, an ultrasound. Don't worry, _I _won't tell everyone at school." And with that she walked off, giving an evil laugh.

"Are you ready?" The doctor called to them, as Demi stood in the doorway, looking in the direction Courtney had just left, gawping.

"Yeah." Bradin told her. "Let's not worry about that right now, Dem, let's get the ultrasound over and done with first." Demi nodded and let Bradin lead her into the room, holding her hand for comfort, though tears were about to prickle in her eyes.

"This may be a little cold." The doctor told her, smiling, as she lifted her top up and squeezed the icy gel onto the bottom of her stomach. Demi jumped a little as it touched her skin. She hadn't expected it to be _that _cold. The doctor talked them through everything as she pressed the instrument down into Demi's stomach, showing the baby on the screen. Demi didn't really listen, she just looked up, amazed, at the little baby on the screen. "It's a very good size so far." The doctor told them. "How have your pregnancy symptoms been?"

"Morning sickness, extreme tiredness, extreme peeing and mood swings… a little bit, oh and sore breasts, of course." Demi informed her.

"Yes, these are all normal. I'm sure you'll be happy to know that the symptoms you've been experiencing will start to go very soon as your baby has gotten past the hardest stage of being in the womb and most of it's vital organs have grown. It's very hard to determine the sex of the baby at this point, you'll have to wait until your next scan for that. The baby is now about the size of a plum, and your uterus is about the size of a grapefruit. This means the baby should be about 2 and a half inches long, but every pregnancy is different. Your baby is quite a good size, maybe a little bigger than the average baby at this point. Have you felt anything from your baby, yet?" She asked curiously.

"Only really tiny flutters. You have to press down to feel them but they are there." Bradin told her.

"Well, you do seem to have quite an active baby in there." The doctor laughed, moving the instrument around Demi's stomach so that the baby was almost always in view. "It's quite rare that you'd feel a thing by this point, but sometimes you can. But as you say, you can only feel tiny flutters. In about 2 months you should be able to feel your baby a lot more."

"So the baby is healthy?" Demi asked.

"Yes, quite healthy. And very active. I can imagine that the baby's had you up quite a bit with morning sickness." Demi nodded

"Got that right." She laughed.

"Your baby is fine, very healthy, in fact. All you have to do is make a 18-20 week appointment, get an ultrasound picture and you can be back on your way." The doctor told them, smiling. Demi looked at the little baby on the monitor, looking as if it were swimming around inside of her, never staying still for more than 5 seconds. She smiled fondly at it.

"Thank you, doctor." Demi said, wiping her stomach of the jelly and pulling her top back down. They were with the doctor for another 2 minutes, in the hospital another 10 minutes what with appointments and so on, and then were on their way home. Demi looked down at the ultrasound picture. There it was, the little thing she'd originally called alien, and even grape for a while. But she couldn't be happy.

"Everyone's going to know by tomorrow, aren't they?" Demi asked, though she knew the most likely answer.

"Well, at least you've got time to prepare yourself." Bradin suggested, trying to find a silver lining to this black cloud. Demi simply looked back down at the picture, putting her hand on her stomach.

P/S: Like it? Review please! And btw, anyone can review now, since (atm) I have 35 reviews and 1326 views, which kinda sucks :P Lol. And I've decided I will post the next chapter, since I love how evil it is. :D


	32. Chapter 32

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. Original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

A/N: An already hated character will become a lot more hated in this chapter, you've been warned :D

Chapter 32:

--

"How did it go?" Ava asked with a smile when they got back. Demi simply handed her the ultrasound photo. Ava smiled at it for a moment, before realising something was wrong with the two of them. "What's wrong?"

"Courtney was there, which basically means she knows." Demi said with a sigh.

"Oh, honey, I'm so sorry." Ava said, pulling her into a hug.

"But there's lots of good news." Bradin said, trying to lighten the mood. "Morning sickness and tiredness and all that stuff are going to go."

"Yeah, that just means I'm going to get worse symptoms." Demi said with a laugh. "Cravings, soon it'll be swollen feet and bad back." Demi said with mock enthusiasm.

"At least you're not in the bathroom all the time, either throwing up or on the loo." Bradin reminded her.

"True." Demi was given the ultrasound picture back by Ava and decided to put it on the fridge with magnets.

"You'll have to start thinking of names soon." Ava said with a smile. Demi looked at Bradin.

"I hadn't even thought about that." Demi said, her eyes slightly widened.

"Me neither." Bradin agreed, equally surprised.

"Well, there's something else for you both to do." Ava said with a smile. She left them alone downstairs, needing to work on a new dress.

"There's no point in me staying off school tomorrow, is there?" Demi said after a long moment.

"Not really. You'll just have to face the music. And maybe no one knows yet."

"Are you trying to say that _Courtney_ wouldn't spread this around, that she's a good person." Bradin paused for a moment.

"No, but she's kinda… twisted. Instead of telling, she might hold this over you for a while, y'know, like blackmail. Or maybe she'll have something else up her sleeve. I'm sorry, Dem, I really don't know. But I swear I'll be there for you when it does get out, and you've even said Adam promised to, as well. I know you're tired of hearing this but just try to ignore it." Demi sighed and gave a little nod.

"It's just kinda hard to ignore at the moment when I'm hormone central." She said sadly. Bradin said nothing, but simply hugged her. He felt really sorry for her at times, when she has to throw up all the time and worry about people gossiping. He had a big role in this too, but Demi's the one who has to go through all the hard stuff. "Thanks for coming to the ultrasound." Demi said with a little smile once they'd broke apart.

"I wanted to go. And I'll be there at the next one, promise."

"You've been really good lately, like helping out with the pregnancy as much as you can and wanting to be here no matter what. I- I didn't really know what to expect when everyone found out I was pregnant, and I wasn't quite sure what to expect from you, but thanks for being so supportive."

"Your welcome." Bradin said with a comforting smile.

--The next day--

Demi chose to wear a slightly baggier top than she usually wore to school today, one that doesn't cling to her figure and show her new tiny bump, but not one that flares out and makes it obvious. Nikki talked animatedly about how cute baby Lily is that morning before school as they all ate their breakfast. Nikki was also fascinated by the ultrasound picture she found on the fridge, giving her something else to talk about. Demi answered all of Nikki's questions about how the ultrasound went. It wasn't long until they'd pulled up outside their school and were making their way in.

"I've got butterflies, and not the good baby flutter kind." Demi said, her nerves making her feel sick.

"Everything will be fine. Just show them that you don't care that they know and then they'll stop bothering you if they don't think they're going to get a reaction." She looked around. No one seemed to be giving her weird looks or calling out to her. "Maybe no one knows." Bradin said, thinking the same thing and looking around.

"Maybe." Demi said nervously, but this only increased the possibility that Courtney would blackmail her or maybe something even worse. She was, after all, evil and twisted. They met up with the guys out front. She was wrapped in Adam's arms and kissed, nothing out of the ordinary happening. Surely if they knew they'd have said something. Sadly this didn't comfort Demi one bit.

The time went by so slowly Demi was surprised the clocks weren't turning backwards. Lunch finally came. No one in any lessons seemed to know anything, though Courtney had given a few evil smirks, making Demi feel sick to the stomach. Why hadn't she told? Was she just waiting for lunch to tell everyone, like she had done when she found out about Demi sleeping with Adam? Demi sat and ate her lunch, not really joining in the conversation, receiving evil smirks from Courtney. She finally got up and took her lunch to the bin.

"Hey Demi." Courtney said, catching up to her.

"Why haven't you told?" Demi said, coldly. Courtney gave a face of mock-hurt.

"Me? I'm not going to tell." A truly evil grin crossed her face. "You are." At that exact moment Demi felt two people grab her from behind, holding her arms behind her back, restraining her. Demi could tell by the nails digging into her skin that it was two of the cling-ons.

"Hey, let go!!" Demi cried, panicking.

"Admit it, Demi, and we'll leave you alone." Courtney said evilly. Demi struggled, but it was no use. The cling-ons had quite a strong grip on her, much stronger than she'd expected, although there were two of them. Demi bitterly shook her head. "Fine, we'll do it the hard way." Courtney punched Demi in the stomach.

"NO!" Demi cried, although Courtney had punched higher in her stomach than Demi expected the baby was, but still in her stomach non the less. Demi took another blow, only to the face this time. Everyone in the hall had looked up when Demi had shouted.

"Admit it, Demi." Courtney told her, punching her again in the stomach and hitting her in the breasts, which were already painful enough.

"Hey, stop it!" Bradin shouted, dodging tables as he ran to them. Demi shook her head, tears streaming down her face.

"Please, stop it, leave me alone." Demi cried, still struggling to break free from the cling-ons grasp. She kicked her legs out in Courtney's direction, only just missing her. Courtney gritted her teeth furiously when she did this and kicked her hard in the stomach. Demi screamed. Everyone was watching, but she didn't want everyone to know she was pregnant, and she sure as hell didn't want them to find out this way. Courtney punched Demi again in the stomach. "Please, I don't care, tell them, just stop it!" Demi said through sobs, defeated.

"No, Demi, your going to tell!" Courtney said with a truly twisted grin, before punching her even harder in the stomach.

"Stop it! She's pregnant!!" Bradin shouted finally. As soon as he said the word 'pregnant', the cling-ons let Demi fall to the floor. Demi couldn't believe it. She knew he'd done it to make them stop, but she couldn't believe he'd been the one to tell. She felt so hurt and couldn't help but be mad at Bradin. Courtney probably would've told in the end, or if push came to shove, Demi would've finally told. But she hadn't wanted Bradin to tell. He'd promised he wouldn't.

"That's all I needed to hear." Courtney said with yet another evil grin. Everyone was looking at them, most of them silent but a small hum of whispers could be heard.

"Woah, don't you know how to put your gloves on, Adam?" Matt laughed. Matt made Demi so mad, she hated him, but she was more angry at Bradin.

"No, Adam can," Demi said loudly, looking up at Bradin. "but Bradin can't." Demi heard a few gasps and the small hum of whispering increased dramatically. Courtney couldn't look happier.

"Wait, not only are you pregnant," She said, smiling like a small child on Christmas day. "But it's not even your boyfriends!? You two-timing slut! But I guess it explains why he was at the ULTRASOUND yesterday." Courtney shouted. "Does that mean you're actually _keeping_ it!?" Demi couldn't take much more of this. She got up and left the hall, not noticing how much her stomach was hurting until just now. She broke into a run, heading for the front door.

"Demi, wait!" Bradin called, running after her.

"No Bradin!" Demi told him with tears streaming down her face. "I can't _believe_ you told them!" She said angrily.

"I couldn't let them keep hurting our baby!"

"You _promised_! You promised you wouldn't tell!" Demi said, stopping and facing him.

"I couldn't let them keep doing that to you!" Bradin told her, catching up. "I know how stubborn you are, you wouldn't have told them. You were only putting yourself and the baby at risk." Demi had her hands on her stomach, which was in quite a bit of pain. Bradin hugged Demi, her hands still on her stomach as she cried on his shoulder.

--Later that day--

Demi didn't know how, but Bradin had somehow convinced Demi to stay in school. There was no point running from it now anyway, everyone knew. And besides, they'd still know tomorrow, so she might as well not beat around the bush. Luckily, people were more disgusted that Courtney was punching and kicking a pregnant girl in the stomach to gossip about her and instead consoled her. They also seemed to understand the whole drunken one night stand thing more than she thought they would, although they still obviously thought it was wrong. She didn't answer people's questions when she was asked what she was doing with the baby, she just told them it was between her and Bradin. She was so relieved when she got home, but her stomach was still hurting.

"How was school?" Ava asked when they came in.

"Everyone knows." Bradin told her, sadly.

"What?! How did they find out?" Ava asked incredulously. Demi told her everything, how they'd restrained her and beat her until Bradin finally told. Ava was shocked and furious. "They can't do that to you! Oh my God, how's the baby?" Both Ava and Bradin looked to Demi.

"I don't know. I honestly don't, my stomach's really hurting, I don't know how the baby's doing. But whenever Courtney punched or kicked me, she did it a little higher in my stomach than where I think the baby is, but I think she hit it sometimes."

"Maybe we should take her to the hospital or something. I mean, they were really trying their hardest when they punched her." Bradin said, worried. Ava looked Demi up and down for a moment.

"Lets go." She said, turning to get her car keys and heading for the door, with Bradin and Demi right behind her.


	33. Chapter 33

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. Original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

A/N: Thanks to ShiaLover09, SummerBreezeGurl77 and BellaPig for reviewing, glad that you all hate Courtney, too :D Now I'll shut up so you can find out what happens to the baby lol.

Chapter 33:

--

Ava drove them to the hospital, pushing the speed limit slightly. They soon parked and went to A&E, all of them fearing the worst. Demi pressed her hand down into her stomach for a moment, ignoring the pain from Courtney. She couldn't feel the baby fluttering. Her heart raced. _'__It__'__s probably just asleep.__'_ She told herself, but they'd just came to hospital for the baby, she couldn't help but fear the worst. They sat anxiously for 20 minutes in near silence. Demi repeatedly checked for fluttering, and Ava and Bradin repeatedly asked if she could feel anything, but she couldn't. The doctor finally called them in.

"What seems to be the problem?" He asked with a little smile, peering at the through his half moon spectacles.

"I'm 11 weeks pregnant and was beaten by some girls today. I don't know whether the baby's ok." Demi said quietly.

"Did these girls know you were pregnant?" He asked.

"Yeah. They kicked and punched in my stomach, so I'm scared for the baby." Demi said, worried. The doctor shook his head disapprovingly, as many people had done at school about the situation.

"We'll need to give you an ultrasound, is that ok?" The doctor asked. Demi nodded her head. They were taken into a different room that already had ultrasound equipment in. Demi laid down on the bed and lifted her t-shirt, bracing herself for the cold gel. It was cold against her skin but she didn't jump this time. The doctor turned the monitor on. Demi quickly grabbed Bradin's hand, needing some comfort before she saw her baby again, not knowing how it would look this time. The doctor pressed the instrument into Demi's stomach, hurting her slightly. "Does that hurt?" The doctor asked, seeing her wince a little.

"Only a little, it's fine." Demi assured him. The doctor found the little foetus on the screen. He fiddled about for a little while, clicking here and there with the mouse. Demi looked at the baby. It had been so active during the last ultrasound, now it just seemed to be floating. _'__oh God.__'_ Demi thought, tears prickling her eyes. Bradin felt the same, but wanted to be the best comfort to her as possible. He gave her hand a little squeeze and gave her a weak smile. She was too worried to smile back. The doctor used a different instrument and pressed down on Demi's stomach, harder than he had done with the last one.

'_Dun-dun, dun-dun, dun-dun, dun-dun.__'_ A smile broke out on Demi's face at the sound of the heartbeat.

"It's quite fast, isn't it?" Ava said, still looking a little worried.

"That's completely normal at this stage of the pregnancy. I'm happy to tell you that whoever these girls were, they haven't hurt your baby whatsoever." The doctor assured them.

"Thank you so much." Bradin said, relieved. They left the room with smiles on their faces and were soon on their way back home.

"Where've you lot been?" Nikki asked when they walked through the door.

"A&E" Demi said, receiving a worried face from Demi.

"Is everything ok? Did you go for the baby? How is-"

"The baby's fine, Nik." Demi said with a smile. "But we were worried it wasn't. Hasn't the news spread right around the school yet?"

"What news?" Nikki asked confused.

"Courtney found out about Demi being pregnant and then started beating her up, kicking and punching her in the stomach, telling her she wouldn't stop until she told everyone her secret." Bradin told her. Nikki gasped. "But I stopped them." Bradin said with a little smile.

"So did they get you to tell everyone?" Nikki asked curiously.

"Yup, everyone knows. And there's a part of me that's glad Courtney was stupid enough to do that, because everyone was more shocked by her beating up a pregnant girl than the fact I was pregnant, so they're on my side." Demi told her with a smile. There was a knock on the door. Ava answered it and smiled when she saw who it was.

"May I present to all you lovely people: Baby Lily Grace Robertson." Jay declared, beaming. Jay carried the baby into the house in it's car seat. Everyone flocked to it and Nikki was first to get her out.

"Hey, Demi?" Isabelle said smiling.

"Yeah?" Demi said, turning to her.

"I've got like two bag's full of maternity clothes for you here." She said, handing Demi two black bags.

"Thank you so much!" Demi said with a smile, taking them from her and looking at the clothes inside.

"What's this?" Bradin asked, coming over and seeing Demi pulling clothes out of the bag.

"Maternity clothes." Demi told him happily. "Will you take one of the bags, please, Bradin? I'll get the other one." Demi asked, picking one up and walking to her room. Bradin obeyed and followed. Demi happily started picking out clothes and admiring them, seeing which ones she could wear soon and which ones she'd have to wait to wear. Her and Bradin began sorting them into piles. Demi loved Isabelle's taste in maternity clothes. She did have some that were the one's you'd typically find, making you look like a chess board, but there were also lots of cute tops and dresses, and most of them had colour on them. There were flounce tops that would rest on the bump and simple t-shirts that would wrap around the bump, emphasising it.

"Lily Grace… I like that name." Demi said, smiling once they'd finished sorting the clothes.

"Yeah, me too. Thought of any names you like?" Bradin asked.

"Nope." She said with a laugh. "You?"

"No." He replied, smiling. "It's kinda hard to think of one now, though, we don't even know the sex of the baby."

"I've been thinking about that, though, now you mention it." Demi remembered.

"What?"

"The sex of the baby. Do you wanna find out at the next ultrasound or leave it as a surprise?"

"Well, if we find out that means we can plan stuff for it like the name."

"What do you wanna have?" Demi asked with a smile.

"Um… haven't really thought about it. I guess it doesn't matter, really."

"Yeah but you can still have a preference." Demi teased. "Do you want a boy or a girl?"

"Hmm… I'd be happy with either, but I'd probably have to say I'd want… a boy." Bradin said finally.

"Maybe. I don't care which it is, either. But there's more of a selection of clothes and things for girls, normally, but that usually means you spend more money." Demi laughed. "I'm too torn, I wouldn't care either way… I guess it doesn't really matter, anyway." Demi said after a moment or so.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we won't have the baby long, will we, we're gunna put it up for adoption." Demi reminded him. She hadn't really thought about that lately, and it was kind of a moment killer.

"You two wanna come see the baby?" Nikki asked, poking her head round the door.

"Sure." Demi said, giving her a smile and following her out into the living room. Isabelle had hold of baby Lily.

"Here." Isabelle said, smiling and handing her the baby. She looked so beautiful, she was only about a day old. Everything was so cute and tiny. Her little fingers and eyes and nose and mouth. And even though she was a perfectly normal sized baby her whole body was tiny.

"She's gorgeous." Demi told Isabelle after breaking out of the trance the beautiful baby had her in.

"Thank you." Isabelle said, beaming.

"Wanna hold, Bradin?" Demi asked him after a moment of swaying with the newborn.

"Um… sure." Bradin said, gently taking hold of the baby and cradling her in his arms. "Wow, she's so… small." Bradin said finally, receiving a little laugh from everyone. "She's beautiful." Bradin complimented, softly stroking the baby's cheek. They all looked up when they heard the door open and shut with a little slam.

"Oh my God, is this her?" Susannah asked, smiling broadly and rushing into the room.

"Baby Lily Grace Robertson." Jay said proudly as Bradin handed her to Susannah. They continued to pass the baby around, cooing to it for the rest of the night until Jay, Isabelle, Danny and Lily went home.


	34. Chapter 34

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. Original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

A/N: Thanks for the reviews you guys! You're awesome as always :D Read and review!

Chapter 34:

--

The next two months passed by with very little remarks at school about Demi's pregnancy. It was the morning of the ultrasound. Demi looked down at her stomach. Bradin couldn't deny it now, there was a clear little bump there now for the world to see. She was in maternity clothes now, as her old jeans were threatening to cut her legs off as they were so tight. Demi donned a cute purple flounce top that came out quite a few inches, resting on her bump. She decided to check on how her baby should be doing at this point on the internet. Demi knew she was 20 weeks pregnant, that didn't sound like much, even though she knew it meant she was half way though the pregnancy. But when she thought about it in months instead of weeks the number seemed scarier. _5 months!_ Demi couldn't believe it had been 5 months since she and Bradin… she pushed that thought out of her head. Demi thought it was a little weird when she learnt that the baby has fingerprints now. She groaned when she learned she was about to put on 1-3 stone. She'd felt the baby quite a lot more lately. There were still lots of flutters, and she could feel them a lot stronger now, but there were also little punches and kicks every now and then, especially, it seemed, in the morning. It was a Saturday, so Demi had allowed Nikki to come along for the ultrasound as well, as she'd asked to do not long after they found out about the baby. The ultrasound wasn't until 4:30 that afternoon, so Demi sat in the front room and watched TV for a little while. She'd only been watching for 5 minutes when there was a knock on the door.

"Hey, Adam." Demi said with a smile, receiving a quick kiss and letting him into the house.

"Got any plans for today?" He asked with a smile. "Because I was thinking we could go down to the beach for a while and then go for dinner, my treat. Maybe we could stop by my house after, it's been ages since you've been round and you haven't even met my parents yet." Adam said with a laugh.

"Um, I've got an ultrasound today, Adam. I thought I told you."

"Oh. Well, I could come with you if you like, then maybe we could go to dinner afterwards. What time is your ultrasound?"

"4:30, but me and Bradin are already going…" Demi said awkwardly. "Maybe we could hang out tomorrow, though?" Demi offered.

"Oh, I would but I've got plans, my brothers coming down to see us." Adam told her. She didn't think he seemed to happy about her turning down his plans, and he hated when she and Bradin went places together. "Some other time, though, maybe."

"I would've invited you to come, Adam, but 'd already said yes to Bradin, he wants to be really involved with the whole pregnancy and-"

"It's fine, really. I'll see you later." He said before turning and leaving. Demi decided she couldn't be bothered with the whole suspicious, moody boyfriend thing at the moment and decided to forget about it.

--

Demi looked down at her watch. 4:00!

"Bradin!" She said, knocking on his door.

"What?" He called from inside.

"The ultrasound, come on!" She heard him get off his bed and come to the door. Demi shouted up the stairs for Nikki.

"Nikki, come on, we're going to the hospital!" Nikki quickly ran down the stairs to meet them.

"Aunt Ava, we're taking your car!" Bradin shouted upstairs to her, grabbing the keys. They heard a faint 'ok' and left the house. Nikki talked animatedly about the ultrasound, about how excited she was to see the baby and find out the sex of her niece or nephew. They arrived at the hospital in 15 minutes and had to wait in the waiting room. Demi sat, slightly bored, not nearly as anxious about this ultrasound as she had been about the first and second one.

"ooh." Demi said quickly.

"What's up?" Nikki asked.

"It kicked." Demi said with a smile. Nikki and Bradin hadn't felt that many kicks of the baby, but they had felt a few. It tended to stop as soon as other people touched it, but sometimes it kept going. Demi took Nikki's hand and placed it where the baby had just kicked and waited. Nikki gasped and smiled when it kicked again. Bradin grinned at the two of them.

"Demi King?" A doctor called.

"That's me." She said, walking over to him, followed by Bradin and Nikki. She was instructed to lay on the bed and did so, lifting her top and inching down her trousers so her full bump was visible. The doctor turned on the screen and she was once again warned that the gel is cold. He pressed the instrument onto Demi's belly and spread the gel around, pushing down to see the baby, but it wasn't exactly hard, it was so much bigger this time around. She looked at it, awed. You could clearly see it now, a big head and a biggish body to match. She could see its little hands, screwed up into fists. It was moving around quite a bit and they even saw the baby kick on the monitor, whilst Demi felt it, too. Even though the ultrasound isn't all-too clear, Demi could swear she could kind of see Bradin in the baby, even a little bit of herself, but definitely Bradin.

"Would you like to know the sex of the baby?" The doctor asked with a smile.

"Yeah." Demi said, smiling as butterflies fluttered in her stomach that weren't because of the baby. He doctor moved the instrument around.

"As you can see on the screen," the doctor said with a little laugh at the baby's clear-as-day genitals, "it's a boy." The doctor finished the ultrasound and Demi wiped her belly of the gel. They got a photo of the scan and were on their way back home.

--Back at home--

"So… what is it?" Ava asked from the sofa where she, Johnny and Susannah were sat once the three of them came in.

"It's a…"

"Don't tease us!" Susannah said with a laugh.

"Boy!" Demi exclaimed happily. Ava, Johnny and Susannah gave their congratulations "Thanks." Demi laughed.

"So, have you thought of names?" Susannah asked.

"Nope." Bradin replied.

"I'm not sure whether to think of names yet, maybe we should wait until it's born to see if the name matches him?" Demi suggested. Bradin gave her a pining look. "It was only a suggestion!" She said, holding up her hands, mockingly.

"Well, why don't you think of a name now, judging by what you saw on the ultrasound?" Johnny suggested.

"He looks like Bradin, definitely." Demi said with a smile.

"I thought that, too." Nikki agreed.

"I've got an idea for the name… well, the middle name." Bradin said.

"What?" Demi asked curiously.

"Robert. My dad was called Bob, so I kinda wanna do that for him, y'know, give my first child his name. But I don't want Robert or Bob as the first name, it seems kinda old." Bradin said with a little laugh. Demi smiled at him.

"Ok, the baby's middle name's Robert."

"Thanks."

"So what about the first name?" Ava asked. "I kinda like…"

"No, don't!" Demi said quickly. "I don't want to think of too many things all at once, we'll leave it's first name for another day." She said firmly. They all muttered ok and dropped the subject of names, instead passing the ultrasound photo around.

--Later that night--

Demi sat in her room, bored. She'd just sent a text to Adam to tell him that the baby's a boy, and he hadn't replied. She decided he was being pathetic and would just leave him for a little bit, to cool off even though she hadn't done anything wrong. She decided she'd get some early sleep, which didn't come as easy to her now as it had done in the first trimester of pregnancy.

_The walls of the room around were covered in blue wallpaper, covered in teddies. Demi looked at the crib a few feet in front of her. Through the white bars she could see a blue quilt. There was a changing table in the room, a shelf filled with baby toys and a wardrobe and drawers. She put her hands to her stomach. It was flat. She jumped when she heard a baby crying. She ran to the crib. It was empty. The crying got louder and louder. It was within the room. Demi looked around frantically. The crying continued to get louder, the baby seeming to sound more desperate. She ran for the door and turned the handle, pulling the door, but it was no use. It was locked. The crying rang in her ears. She put her hands to them. She looked at all the toys around her, seeming to stare sown at her, all the eyes of the teddies and clowns beginning to really freak her out. The baby was screaming and crying. Demi pulled up the quilts, checking again for the baby. _

"_Where__'__s my baby!?__"__ Demi screamed. The crying got louder, louder than Demi thought was possible._

"_WHERE__'__S MY BABY!?__"__ Demi screamed through tears._

"Demi, wake up, it's just a nightmare!!" Demi sat bolt upright in her bed, breathing heavily. She noticed her face was wet with tears and quickly began to wipe it. Bradin looked at her, concerned. "You ok?"

"Yeah, just a dream… a weird dream." She looked around the room, checking that she was back in her room. She put her hands to her stomach and found the bump was there again. She breathed a small sigh of relief.

P/S: Ok, guy's, I've already got a name and everything, but I think there might be better ones for the baby. Tell me any names you think sound good, but they have to have Robert as a middle name. :D Review and tell me!


	35. Chapter 35

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. Original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

A/N: Ok, I've picked a name for the baby, but I'm starting to doubt it, so if you have any good names tell me them and I'll consider them :D

Chapter 35:

--

Demi's eyes fluttered a little as she woke up. It was a week since she'd had the weird dream and she was thankful that she hadn't had any other of the sort.

"You don't really appreciate how short 40 weeks is until you have to carry a baby for that long." Demi said, sitting on a deck chair in the back garden with Bradin. "It's amazing, really. In just 40 weeks, a microscopic egg and sperm join and grow to be a _baby_, in 40 weeks. It's so… unreal." Demi said, taking a sip of orange juice.

"I know. Had any more thought's about names?" Bradin asked.

"…I have, but I've decided we won't give it a first name until it's born. I've got ideas, but I want to leave it. It's like we just said, time is going by so fast, you only have to wait 19 weeks, and that's not long at all, considering I've already been pregnant 21 weeks."

"I s'pose."

"Don't you think it's kinda weird, knowing how big the baby is now, and it is kinda big if you think about it, that you can still get an abortion? It would be classed as a late one, but you can still get rid of the baby, even though it's grown so much."

"You're not having second thoughts, are you?" Bradin asked.

"No, I'm just saying, I think it's weird." Demi said quickly. She sighed. "I just want it out of me now, but I know I'm going to have to go through swollen feet and bad backs before that can happen." Demi said with a little laugh. "Bradin… you are going to be there for me, right? I mean through everything, even birth and stuff." She noticed Bradin wince a little.

"Yeah, of course." He said finally.

"You're scared about it too, then, huh?" Demi said, looking down at her ever growing bump.

"It's just going to be hard. I've never had to be there when a woman's gave birth before, and it's like I'm going to have to be your birthing partner." Bradin laughed. "It's just gunna be a bit scary, seeing the baby being born and holding it for the first time."

"I know. I'm petrified of actually having to _give birth_. It's head is already massive." Demi laughed. "I have to push that thing out! I hate how the dad's get everything so easy, women have to put up with all the stupid pregnancy symptoms an then suffer the worst pain known to man."

"Sorry. I mean, that's one of the things I feel guiltiest about. Because I was stupid enough to get you pregnant, I'm putting you through so much pain. At first with Adam, then physical pain with throwing up and feeling sore and all the other pregnancy symptoms. And there's more to come. So… I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologise. I know it's gunna hurt like hell, but it won't last forever. That short space of time will lead to a beautiful baby and happy people. I don't care about going through a few hours pain when I think of the end result." Demi told him, smiling comfortingly. They sat silently for a while, not at all awkward, more peaceful and relaxing, simply enjoying each others company.

"You two, dinners ready." Ava told them, coming out into the back garden to collect them.

Jay and Isabelle had came around for dinner, so Nikki had baby Lily and was feeding her a bottle. Demi smiled inwardly, thinking of how Nikki would be when she had her baby.

"ooh." Demi said quickly. Everyone looked up at her. "Baby kicked." She explained. They smiled and got on with what they were doing before. Demi and Bradin grabbed a plate each and sat and ate, talking across the table to everyone.

"So, Demi, put any thought into baby names?" Isabelle asked her, smiling.

"We have the middle name, but we're going to wait until he's born to give him a first name." Demi answered, smiling.

"But you must have _thought_ about it, though." Isabelle probed. Demi laughed and nodded a little.

"But I think I'm gunna keep my ideas a secret until it's born.. And the time will probably fly by. I can't believe I'm half way through the pregnancy already." Demi said incredulously.

"If you think it's went fast so far you won't believe how fast the rest will go, it seems to get faster as the pregnancy moves along, I find."

"How painful is childbirth?" Demi asked curiously. Isabelle bit her lip before smirking.

"Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies." Isabelle quipped. Demi laughed.

"That bad, huh?" She asked. Isabelle pulled an imaginary zip over her mouth, though she was still smirking.

"Ok, I have another question." Demi challenged. "What's better, bottle or boob?" Demi laughed.

"Bottle, boob hurts!" Isabelle told her, laughing though deadly serious.

"Come on, you guy's, everyone's eating!" Johnny laughed.

"Johnny!" Ava said, nudging him in the side though she was smirking. Isabelle and Demi laughed and they all finished off their dinners, not discussing any more baby matters.

--The next day--

Everyone in the house was getting ready. Demi was rummaging through her maternity clothes. _'__What the hell can I wear!?__'_ She thought to herself. She kind of wanted to wear one of the cute dresses Isabelle had given her, but she thought it would be too much for school. She finally opted for some jeans she'd finally managed to find and a simple white, half sleeved top that flared out ever so slightly. Non of her clothes flattered her bump in the slightest, so she'd decided to stop trying. She grabbed her bag, which had way too many books in. They were at school again within 20 minutes.

"Hey." Demi said with a little smile when she walked up close enough to Adam, not putting her arms around his neck and kissing him as she usually would since she didn't know where she quite stood with him at that point, he'd been a little moody with her ever since the whole ultrasound thing.

"Hey." Adam said with a smile, pulling her into a quick hug and looking down at her bump when he broke free from the embrace. "It's already big enough to get in the way." Adam said with a shaky laugh.

"Well it does grow, Adam, that's what happens to a woman's baby bump over time." Demi said sarcastically.

"Ha, ha, really funny." Adam said humourlessly. Demi couldn't help but smile and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. They all sat and talked until the bell went.

--At lunch--

Normally, school morning took forever in Demi's opinion. But today had been different and the morning practically flew by. Demi got her lunch and sat down with the girls, talking happily.

"Demi, that bumps getting bigger by the day!" Lea exclaimed. Demi was so happy her that her friends had stuck by her ever since finding out she was pregnant.

"Aren't you scared about all the weight gain crap?" Britney asked.

"Well, I'm not happy about it, but it's a sacrifice I'm making for him." Demi said, putting a hand to her belly. "I'm mostly scared of pushing the thing out! I seriously do not know how anyone is supposed to push a baby's head out, no matter how stretchy everything is." Demi laughed.

"You could get a caesarean or something instead." Shannon suggested.

"I dunno just yet, but I think I'm just going to push it out normally." Demi told them.

"Hey, slut." Courtney said, walking past with her lunch tray. Demi stuck her foot out and tripped her up, causing her to trip a little and drop her lunch tray.

"Hey, slag." Demi quipped, getting up and leaving the hall, on her way to her next class.

--Later that day--

Demi looked down to her feet. Her eyes widened. She was a stone heavier than she was just before the pregnancy, according to the scales in the bathroom, and she was only half way through her pregnancy.

"What are you doing?" Susannah asked, walking into the bathroom. Demi quickly covered the number on the scales' display.

"Nothing." She said, smiling as best she could.

"Honey, don't worry, I saw that number and I'm still quite a lot heavier than you." Susannah laughed. "Your still about average teenage girl weight, only you have a big bump."

"I know I've got to make sacrifices for the baby, but it doesn't mean I don't hate some of the sacrifices he makes me make." Demi said sadly. Although she had tried her best and not shown it up until now, she was really self conscious about her weight and bump size.

"Demi, it's to be expected, your pregnant! No one's going to think your fat, your still small weight-wise and everything." Susannah told her, trying to comfort her as best as she could.

"Have you ever been pregnant before, Susannah?" Demi asked curiously. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Demi said quickly, realising she'd just asked quite a personal question. "I was just wondering-"

"Demi, it's fine." Susannah chuckled. "I have been pregnant before and just gotten abortions. But I did get pregnant for real once, but I had a miscarriage 4 months in." Susannah said sadly.

"I'm so sorry." Demi said, apologetically. "I shouldn't have asked."

"No, it's ok, I don't mind telling you about it. But it's our secret, ok?" Susannah said with a little smile. "It was a guy called Dalton Grant, an ex of mine. He was an LA big-shot and everyone was always just like _'__Susannah who?__'__._ But everything about him was just so seductive. As soon as I found out I was pregnant, though, I knew that being with Dalton Grant and no one knowing my name was not the life I wanted for me and my baby. So I took off, left him without saying a word. But then… he tracked me down not to long ago, at the big summer beach party we always throw here at the house. And still to this day, he doesn't know I was pregnant or why I left him, well, not really." Susannah recalled, as they walked into the deserted front room, sitting on the sofa.

"Think you'll ever tell him?" Demi asked curiously. Susannah shook her head.

"No point dragging up the past. I mean, I was going to tell him when he found me last year at the summer party, we went upstairs to my room and we were having a 'moment', and I was going to stop it at some point and just tell him, but then Jay came in and reminded me I was just crushing on the rocks." Susannah said with a small smile. Demi looked at her confused. "Don't ask." Susannah said with a little laugh.

"Do you ever want kids?" Demi asked.

"Yeah. And if everything with Matt is for real, then I'd happily have kids with him." Susannah said with a smile. "He came back from his business trip yesterday, I've been dying to see him."

"Hey, you two, whatcha talking about?" Ava asked happily, coming into the house with bags full of shopping.

"Oh, nothing." They chorused, grinning at each other.


	36. Chapter 36

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. Original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

A/N: Thanks so much to wwegurl4eva77 and MissPopularityofDrkness77 for your name suggestions, I appreciate it! And I've picked one, but you'll have to read to find out lol. I'm gunna move time along quite a bit, sick of beating around the bush :D

Chapter 36:

--

Demi was sat on the sofa, running her hand over her large, protruding bump. _'36 weeks! That's like 8 months!'_ She thought, shocked. Isabelle had been completely right, and the second half of her pregnancy had flew by so quick. _'__God, I__'__m big!__'_

"That things gunna pop out any day now." Bradin said, smiling, as he walked into the living room, joining her on the sofa.

"I've still got about 4 weeks, if the baby lasts the full pregnancy that is." Demi said, continuing to rub her belly.

"I'm getting more nervous about it lately." Bradin admitted after a moment.

"Me too." Demi agreed. She had pregnancy symptoms again, but only a sore back and aching feet, if she was up and about for too long. "I wish he didn't need so much food, I don't know if I'll ever look the same as I did before."

"Don't worry, I know you will." Bradin said as comfortingly as he could.

"Come on, you two, we're going for dinner at Mona's, remember." Johnny called to them, grabbing his keys. Bradin got off the sofa. Demi held out her hands expectantly and Bradin pulled her up off the sofa, seeing as it had became harder to do it herself with her ever-growing bump. It was the first time that Bradin and Demi had been to Mona's since finding out Demi was pregnant, seeing as neither of them wanted to confront Erika and simply ignored her if they saw her in the streets. They were at Mona's sandbar in 5 minutes, since it wasn't very far from the house. As they had expected, Erika was there working.

"Wow, Demi, that bumps getting pretty big." Erika said when she saw her, giving her a dirty look.

"Thanks." Demi retorted with a fake smile.

"Come on, Demi." Bradin said, putting a hand on her back and guiding her to the table, trying to avoid a possible argument. Johnny ordered cokes for everyone whilst they sat and decided what they'd have to eat. Their choices mainly varied from pizza to chips, etc. As there were 7 of them, it took a while for everything to be made. After 15 minutes of chatting and waiting for their dinner to come, Erika began to bring the out, setting the plates in front of everyone. She finally came out with the last two plates of pizza. She laid Bradin's down in front of him, then tipped the plate of Demi's so the pizza landed on her top.

"Oops." Erika said nastily, putting her fingers to her lips before starting to walk off.

"Hey!" Bradin shouted, jumping up out of his seat.

"No, Bradin, just leave it." Demi said, pushing herself into standing position with the arms of her chair. "Let's… let's just go." She said, grabbing his hand and leading him out of the sandbar. She wasn't up for fighting at that moment, and because being pregnant made her hormones crazy, she was way too upset than she should've been, considering Erika had only been petty enough to spill pizza down her.

"You ok?" Bradin asked, once Demi had led him quite a bit away from Mona's.

"Yeah, I just don't want stress, it's bad for the baby." Demi said, though she knew he could hear that she was upset, still leading him.

"I can't believe she did that, it was so childish. She's just mad because of… well, y'know. But don't let her get to you." Bradin said comfortingly, in a way he'd spoken to her a lot lately.

"Hey!" Bradin and Demi both turned quickly to see Adam coming up to them. He looked down at their linked hands, then to Demi in an untrusting way. Demi could tell by the way he was standing that he'd had a little bit to drink, though he wasn't very drunk. Demi sighed, dropping Bradin's hand.

"What?" She asked, beginning to become annoyed. This certainly wasn't her day.

"You wonder why I don't trust you two together." Adam said, a little angrily.

"I was stopping him from getting into a fight, I'm just taking him away from it!" Demi said angrily. She felt the baby starting to kick, quite hard. _'__Isn__'__t your timing GREAT!__'_she thought.

"I don't know why I ever gave you another chance, Demi. I know you love him more than you love me." Adam said angrily. Something inside Demi snapped.

"Y'know what Adam?! You're completely right. I love Bradin more than I love you, because YOU are a complete ass! You've been so busy being paranoid and giving me silent treatment than being my boyfriend. Bradin on the other hand has been here for me 24/7, and guess what? _He__'__s_ the father of my baby, so yeah, I'm obviously going to hang out with him a lot and make HOT DATES with him, like going to an ultrasound! You made the wrong decision pissing off a pregnant woman." Demi said, walking towards him and facing off to him. "We are so over, Adam, and just so you can put your little mind at rest, yeah, I love Bradin, and I never loved-" Demi stopped mid sentence, her face turning white, completely in shock.

"What are you gunna say, you never loved me? Because that's not a big secret now, is it? I mean, if you loved me, you wouldn't have been such a slut and went and slept with Bradin-" Adam began, stopped by Bradin punching him in the face. Bradin continued to punch him and Adam found the strength to punch back.

"GUYS!" Demi shouted, causing them to stop and look at her. "Something's wrong." She looked down, her mouth ajar. Bradin's eyes widened, his mouth dropping just like Demi's when he saw a little pool of water on the floor.

"Oh my God!" Bradin said, quickly jumping up from the floor, where he and Adam had been having their little brawl. "What do I do?" He asked, panicked.

"Get me to a hospital!" Demi screamed, thinking this was so obvious.

"How!? I don't have a car or-"

"Go get someone!" Demi said, her eyes tearing up.

"Here." Bradin said, leading her to a bench and sitting her down. "I'll be right back, I'll get aunt Ava, just stay here!" And he ran off up the road. Demi was crying tears of shock. She looked at Adam, who was sat on the floor where he and Bradin had fought, simply staring at her, bewildered. She wanted to say something to him, but wasn't sure what to say. Part of her wanted to ask him to help her, the other part wanted to scream at him. Unable to decide, she simply looked away from him. She was so scared that she was shaking. If she had the baby today, it would be 4 weeks early! And since it wasn't at the 37 week mark, it would be premature. She tried her best to push the thought out of her head, trying to think positively. _'__Bradin, where are you!?__'_ She thought to herself. Within 5 minutes, which felt like 5 hours to Demi, Bradin, Ava, Johnny, Susannah, Nikki and Derrick came running towards her from Mona's Sandbar, hopping out of the car. She was quickly taken to the car by Ava, as she, Johnny and Bradin hopped back in, leaving Susannah to take Derrick and Nikki in her car once they rush home to get it.

"What am I- going to- do? I don't- want to give- birth!" Demi said through sobs.

"Just hang in there." Johnny told her as he sped to the hospital. Bradin was holding Demi's hand for comfort.

"Ow!!" He screamed. Demi screamed, too, as pain seared through her stomach, causing her to squeeze Bradin's hand. A contraction. _'__They__'__re really THAT painful!?__'_Demi thought to herself.

"Hurry up, Uncle Johnny, please just hurry up!" Demi begged through thick sobs.

"We're almost there, Demi, you're doing fine, just a few more minutes." Johnny assured her, though he sped up a little. Tears continued to fall thick and fast down Demi's flushed cheeks, Bradin looked white as a sheet in shock. Thanks to Johnny's speed it took them 3 more minutes to get to the hospital. They rushed her inside, getting into the lift as fast as they could. As soon as they reached the right floor they rushed to the counter.

"She's giving birth. Now. Get her to a room, pronto." Johnny said quickly. The woman behind the counter looked up calmly, clearly used to hearing this.

"Could you get her into a wheelch-" The woman began, cut off by Demi giving a low, but loud, groan, clutching onto the counter as she had another painful contraction. Bradin had ran to get the nearest wheelchair and sat her in it and she was soon taken into a delivery room. She'd been told she could only take one person into the delivery room with her, so predictably chose Bradin. She was quickly taken out of her clothes and given an itchy gown to wear, much like the one she'd worn after her surfing accident, but she didn't care, she just wanted the baby out of her. The midwifes bustled around, checking how many centimetres dilated Demi was and, in Demi's opinion, wasting time and keeping the baby inside here longer.

"Ok, you're 7 centimetres dilated." A midwife told her.

"Then get it out of me!" Demi said stressfully. She was holding onto Bradin's hand for dear life, never knowing this much pain was possible.

"Ok, on three, I want you to push down into your bottom. One, two, three!" The midwife ordered. Demi tightened her grip dramatically on Bradin's hand as she moaned loudly in pain, pushing with everything she had. "Ok, that was a good one, again, one, two-" Demi was yelling again in pain and pushing before the midwife could even get to three. This procedure carried on, and on, and on. Demi had made a serious mistake when she'd thought that the pain she was in when 7 centimetres dilated was more than she thought possible, the pain had increased tenfold.

"Please just get it out." Demi sobbed.

"You're doing great, I can see the head, another big push and we'll get that out, the rest will be over real soon, I promise." The midwife assured her. "One, two, three!" Demi pushed, harder than she'd been pushing before, even though she'd thought she'd been pushing her hardest then. She screamed loudly as the pain seemed to triple. "Great, we've got the head!"

"Then pull it out!!" Demi ordered through gritted teeth. She pushed again, non-the-less, and a few seconds later, she heard a wail. Demi breathed a sigh of relief, a little smile appearing on her face. The midwifes quickly rushed to weigh and clean the baby.

"_There you guy__'__s are!__"__ Ava said as Susannah, Nikki and Derrick came rushing onto the hospital ward._

"_How__'__s Demi?__"__ Nikki asked, panting._

"_She__'__s just been taken to the delivery room now with Bradin.__"__ Johnny told her. Considering there were quite a few women giving birth as they spoke on the ward, the waiting room was surprising quiet._

"_How long does it take to give birth?__"__ Derrick asked._

"_Changes from person to person.__"__ Susannah replied._

"_Well, how long do you think Demi will take?__"__ Derrick continued._

"_Derrick, how are we supposed to know that!?__"__ Nikki said with a laugh._

"_Guess.__"__ They all rolled their eyes at him, before Nikki pulled Derrick down into the seat next to her._

"Congratulations, it's a healthy baby boy, 7 pounds 11 ounces." The midwife told Demi and Bradin with a smile, placing the tiny baby in Demi's arms. She moved the blanket away from his face, looking at the little boy. Demi smiled a huge grin and looked up at Bradin, who had a tear in his eye.

"What, you squeezed my hand _really _hard." Bradin said quickly, smirking.

"Excuses, excuses." Demi quipped. She looked back down at the little boy she was cradling. "He's so beautiful." She said, almost in a whisper. Bradin nodded in agreement. "And I was right, he does look like you."

"He looks a bit like his mom, too." Bradin said, smiling. Demi smiled back as she handed the little boy to his father. Another tear came to his eye when he looked down into the child's face, one which he didn't even bother trying to deny.

"Hello there, baby… no-name Robert." Bradin said with a little laugh, after a long moment of just admiring the baby.

"I guess we can give ideas for the first name now he's out of me." Demi laughed. Bradin nodded.

"What do you have in mind?" He asked.

"I kinda like Sean. Sean Robert King." Demi announced with a smile. Bradin thought for a minute.

"I like Sean." He looked down at the baby. "What do you think. You like Sean Robert King?" Bradin asked him. The baby a weird noise, sounding as though it was about to start crying, though he didn't.

"We got a response." Demi smiled, looking up at the two of them from the bed. She was exhausted but determined not to show it. "Wanna go get the others?" Demi asked. Bradin nodded and handed Sean back to Demi. Bradin walked up the corridor until he saw his family in the waiting room. They all stood up as soon as they saw him.

"So, guys." Bradin said, looking at all of their relieved faces and smiling. "Wanna come meet Sean Robert King?" He grinned as they all smiled and congratulated him, admiring the name. Demi looked up a minute later to see them flood into the room. She repeatedly heard 'He's beautiful.' and laughed.

"Who wants him?" She asked. Nikki couldn't have said 'ME!' faster. She handed the newborn to her, watching everyone swarm round to get a closer look. "Bradin?" Demi looked up at him, one hand on the bar of the bed, leaning. He was the only one who hadn't rushed to the baby.

"Hmm?" He smiled down at her. She returned the smile cheekily before grabbing the front of his shirt and closing the distance between them, pressing her lips to his. Some of the family turned and raised their eyebrows, though smirking.

"I wasn't just saying what I said earlier to get at Adam, or because I was a hormonal pregnant woman." Demi said after they broke apart. Bradin stared into her eyes for a moment, before once again closing the space between them, kissing her. It was a lot more playful this time and their smiles could be felt by one another, but they didn't care, they were just so happy one of them had finally said it.

"Ok you two, your baby's in the room, break it up." Johnny laughed. Demi did as she was told and stuck her tongue out at him.


	37. Chapter 37

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. Original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

A/N: Thanks to everyone who's reviewing :D Hope you enjoy the next chapter.

Chapter 37:

--

It was noon the next day. Demi had gotten plenty of well earned rest and was lounging on the sofa since Nikki had taken Sean up to her room to look after for the day. Bradin walked over from the kitchen, bringing Demi a cup of tea.

"Thanks." She said, sipping on it greedily. Bradin said nothing, but grinned cheekily before kissing her. Demi giggled and soon Bradin had her on her back, kissing her more slowly before detaching his lips from hers and instead trailing them down her neck.

"Hey, you've just had a kid, we don't need another." Johnny told them with a laugh, walking through the room and into the garden. They laughed and sat back up.

"Bradin, I've kinda been wanting to talk to you."

"Ok." He said, smiling, looking at her hungrily.

"Bradin, it's serious." She said, though smirking as he looked at her. "It's about Sean." She finally got his full attention where she wanted it.

"What is it?"

"I've been thinking… ok, I just wanna talk and you listen for a minute." Bradin nodded his head and pulled an imaginary zip over his mouth. "It's about what we're gunna do with him." Demi said nervously. Bradin nodded again, silently willing her to continue. "I- I've been thinking about it a lot, and basically throughout my pregnancy I've wanted him to have a better life than I did, be a better mother. And giving to someone who's guaranteed to love him felt like the perfect idea, but lately I've been wondering about it. What about when he finds out he's adopted and asks who his real parents are, all those awkward and horrible situations he'd be in. All I've wanted is to be a better mother than _my_ mother. I know that I'm just the result of a one night stand, and so is he, but I want to make things work for him, and how can I do that as best as I can if I give him away. I know it's a huge decision, Bradin, I know, but I don't know if I could live with the guilt if we give him away, wondering what life would be like if I'd kept him. And I know that baby's cost a bomb, but we'll both get proper jobs and child benefits or whatever-"

"Demi, are you forgetting something?" Bradin said, needing to interrupt. Demi gave him a puzzled look. He laughed. "Who paid for the honeymoon holiday? And it wasn't even a lot, really. Demi, I'm so relieved that you're thinking this, too, and we can get by on the money in the bank, at least for a little while. And we'll get jobs and stuff, too, make life easier financially. I think this can work." He said with a smile. Demi's face turned from a look of slight shock to pure joy, throwing her arms around Bradin's neck and pulling his face towards hers, hands filled with locks of his gorgeous blonde hair. She didn't even care whether Johnny would tell them to stop.

--Later--

"Feeding time for little Sean. Do you mind if I do it, Demi? I just want to spend as much time with my nephew while I can." Nikki asked guilt-trippingly. They hadn't yet told anyone of their plans to keep the baby, and were about to as soon as dinner started.

"Sure." Demi replied. Ava began to hand out plated of chicken and chips and everyone took a seat around the table. As soon as everyone began to tuck in, Demi gave Bradin a little nudge in the side, telling him to tell.

"Erm, everybody?" Bradin said, standing up. They all looked at him, though continued eating. "Demi and I have been talking and thinking things through, y'know, about Sean." Everyone's full attention was on Bradin now. "And we've decided not to go through with the adoption plan. We're keeping him." Bradin said simply, smirking. Nikki squealed joyfully and several 'congratulations' and 'that's wonderful!' could be heard from the table. Ava. However, looked concerned.

"Are you sure that's what you guys want to do? I mean taking on a baby is a HUGE decision, and you're both still young. I just want you to be sure it's what you want first before-"

"We're sure, aunt Ava. I've never been more sure of anything in my life" Bradin said, holding Demi's hand.

"Well, then, I'm happy for you." Ava told them, smiling fondly. Demi and Bradin thanked everyone and they sat back down, talking animatedly whilst eating their dinners. A few minutes later there was a knock on the door, which Ava got up an answered. A moment later Jay, Isabelle, Danny and Lily came into the house, Jay and Isabelle offering their congratulations to Bradin and Demi.

"Thanks." Demi said, beaming. "Hello, there!" Demi cooed to the now 5 month old Lily. Demi didn't think she looked that much bigger from when she was a newborn in height, but thought she looked a lot fuller. Lily gurgled up at her, squirming cutely in her car seat. Demi chuckled at her before getting her out. "Woah, I think you might want to go to mommy with a diaper _that _smelly!" Demi laughed, holding Lily at arms length. Isabelle laughed and took Lily from her.

"Demi, I've got quite a few of Danny's old baby clothes in the car for you, I'll go get them once I'm finished with smelly over here." Isabelle told her.

"Thank you so much, Isa-" Sean decided to choose that moment to try and deafen them with his cry.

"I think he wants you!" Nikki said quickly, thrusting him onto her. Demi quietly hushed, rocking and patting him on the bum. He stopped crying straight away, much to Demi's amazement. She looked down into his precious little face. He looked a lot like Bradin and was such a cute baby. She suddenly realised that it was the first time she'd held him since deciding not to put him up for adoption. She smiled inwardly.

"Isabelle, Jay, I've got news about Sean." Demi said, smiling as her son slept in her arms.

"Hmm?" Isabelle asked, smiling up at her.

"I'm gunna keep him." Demi said happily, looking back down at her son. It was easy enough to say she was going to put him up for adoption when he was in her womb, but now she saw how beautiful he was and how much she already loved him, she'd never dream of giving him away. "Oh my God, Bradin, I just realised we're missing stuff." Demi said quickly, snapping out of the trance her son puts her in whenever she sees him.

"What?" Bradin asked.

"He hasn't got a crib or car seat or anything!" Demi said, a hint of panic in her voice. "Nikki, can I leave Sean with you for a while?"

"Sure." Nikki said, smiling, taking Sean from her arms. Demi and Bradin were soon out of the house and driving to the nearest baby shop. Once they were there they bought a pram which could be changed into all sorts of different positions and came in a set with the car seat, which could be attached to the pram frame. They also bought a crib and a Moses basket, deciding that the crib would be put up tomorrow by Bradin and Johnny in Demi's room and that Sean could sleep in the Moses basket tonight. After buying several other items, like blankets and bottles and baby formula, etc, they put their shopping into the car, struggling a little with the bigger things, and drove home again. They both made two trips from the car to the house before all of their shopping was in. After deciding to leave the setting up of most things, like the phenomenally difficult pram and crib, they simply set up the Moses basket in Demi's room next to her bed.

--Later that night--

"It's kinda hard to believe that one night and 8 months of torture could produce something so beautiful." Demi told Bradin as they sat on her bed, looking at their little son in the Moses basket.

"I think he's the best mistake I ever made." Bradin said with a small laugh. Demi nodded in agreement. "I mean, now I've got a beautiful son, gorgeous girlfriend…" Bradin said, grinning cheekily, kissing Demi slowly as he trailed off. Being with Bradin felt so different to being with Adam in Demi's opinion, everything felt so right and so much better. She loved the way his lips felt on hers, as though made especially for her. She loved how whenever she saw him she smiled and how he she had to catch her breath whenever he touched her.

"Bradin…" Demi said breathily as he kissed her in all the right spots up her neck.

"Mmm?" Bradin replied, not removing his lips for a second.

"Sean's right there…" Demi said, biting her lip as Bradin continued to kiss her, driving her crazy. Bradin looked up at her and smirked. He kissed her passionately on the lips for a moment.

"Sean's asleep." He replied seductively. She bit her lip, considering it for a moment. "You do know that when you do that it only makes me want you more." He said, having to restrain himself, effectively driving _him _crazy.

"You know what happened last time." Demi laughed, quickly glancing at Sean.

"And what if I promised we'd be careful this time?" Bradin asked suggestively.

"You know I love you Bradin…"

"Come on." Bradin begged, making a puppy dog face.

"I'm tired. And I'm still flabby beach whale." Demi said, a little upset.

"Not to me, you're not." Bradin said quickly with a smile, closing the small distance between them. (A/N: Might wanna make sure there's no parents behind you or whatever xD) Demi's eyes slid shut as he kissed her, smiling at how good he made her feel. After a minute or so of tentative kissing Demi finally just thought 'what the hell.' She smiled cheekily and bit his bottom lip before delving her tongue deep into his mouth. Bradin gave a satisfied moan and lowered his hands to her waist, his fingers hooking around the hem of her t-shirt. She sat up, allowing him to pull it off before pulling off his own. She ran her hands down his chest and abs, finally reaching his belt and taking it off. Bradin kissed her again, leaning over her until she was on her back again, before removing his lips from hers and again kissing down her neck and kissing down to her chest. She arched her back as Bradin quickly unhooked her bra, carelessly throwing it on the floor.

"Bradin, wait, I thought we were gunna be safe." Bradin smirked and opened the drawer on Demi's bedside table, revealing a box of condoms. She raised her eyebrows at him.

"What, I put them there earlier, y'know, just incase…" Demi giggled.

"Do all guys always plan to get a girl into bed?" She asked, though grinning, as she played with his thick blonde hair, his head now above hers.

"Don't act like you don't love it." Bradin laughed before kissing her again. Soon the remaining clothes came off, and the night about 8 months ago repeated itself.

P/S: Ok, so that little A/N wasn't _really_ needed, but whatever xD Review and tell me what you think!


	38. Chapter 38

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. Original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

A/N: Ok, so since I'm an absolute idiot, I numbered 2 chapters 37 and didn't upload the second one. I only just realized today lol so chapter 38 might not have made sense before. Hopefully it should now :)

Chapter 37:

--

Demi woke up to the sound of soft snoring behind her. She smiled, gently stroking the strong arm Bradin had wrapped around her waist. She rose her head as much as she could without waking Bradin. Luckily this was just enough to see Sean in the Moses basket. He laid there quietly, looking up and moving his arms a little. Demi was surprised he hadn't cried, seeing as newborns had a reputation for it when they woke up. She removed Bradin's arm from her waist as carefully as she could and got out of bed, throwing on a pair of pyjamas and picking Sean up out of the Moses basket for his morning feed.

Once Demi had fed, burped and changed Sean's diaper, she looked at the vast selection of baby clothes Isabelle had given her, though there weren't many newborn sized ones, most of them being 3-6months and so on. She put a vest on him and finally chose a blue t-shirt and dungarees, which he looked adorable in.

"Hey, why didn't you wake me?" Bradin asked, smiling as he came out of Demi's room, dressed in yesterdays clothes again.

"You just looked so cute sleeping."

"What, just when I'm sleeping?" Bradin asked with a face of mock-hurt. He laughed before placing his lips over hers, kissing her gently at first but slowly getting more passionate.

"Bradin, Sean's right here in my arms, remember." Demi laughed. Bradin took Sean out of her arms.

"Hey, little buddy, if you go to sleep again that means me and mommy will be able to-"

"Bradin!" Demi said, tapping him on the arm and laughing.

"What? I can't help that I'm crazy about you." He laughed.

"I know, and I'm crazy about you too, but as I said: Sean." Demi said resolutely. Bradin gave in and they sat on the sofa together, cooing their newborn baby. Bradin placed Sean back in Demi's arms and placed an arm around her shoulders as they sat in a picture perfect moment.

"It's kinda weird, isn't it?" Bradin said, though smiling at his girlfriend and son.

"What do you mean?"

"This. Y'know, the whole mom, dad and baby thing."

"Yeah." Demi said with a little laugh. "But it's nice, I kinda like it." She told him, leaning over and resting her head on him.

"Me too." He smiled, gently kissing her on the forehead and stroked her hair.

"Morning, you three." Ava said, walking down the stairs, smiling at their happy family pose.

"Morning." Bradin and Demi chorused.

"Doesn't he look adorable." Ava cooed. "Mind if I have a hold?"

"Not at all." Bradin answered quickly, handing his son up to his aunt. She walked over to the kitchen, cradling her great-nephew in her arms. Bradin turned and grinned at Demi, quickly pressing his lips to hers, running a hand along her thigh, slowly moving up.

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Westerly." Demi laughed, stopping the kiss and putting a finger to his lips. He gave her a pining look. "Uh-uh." She grinned, getting up to go see Ava and her son.

--Later that day--

Demi was amazed at how many diapers babies could go through, and soon had to send Bradin to the shop for more. She laid on her bed with the baby next to her, putting him into the Moses basket when she realised he was asleep, which seemed like the only thing Sean did.

"Got them." Bradin said, walking into her room 5 minutes later. "Sleeping again?" Demi nodded her head. "Lazy bugger." He laughed, joining Demi on the bed.

"It's kinda weird to get used to, isn't it? Having a son." Demi said.

"Yeah, it's like he's there, but… I don't know, it's all just weird and new." Demi laughed.

"Great explanation," She said sarcastically, "but you're right. You know what else is weird?"

"What?"

"We don't have to go to school anymore. Which is kind of a good thing, cos it means I finished my education before having Sean, but things are still going by so fast." Bradin nodded in agreement. "It's kinda weird though. When you finish school you're supposed to go to college or get a job or whatever, but I'm gunna be a stay at home mom."

"But we're going to be fine. Yeah, our plans have changed dramatically, but we're gunna have to make changes and sacrifices and make it work. And I know it will, Dem. I love you." Bradin said sincerely, kissing her. After about five minutes of sweet and sincere kissing, Bradin tried to turn it in a different direction, becoming more passionate, cupping her face in his hands, slowly moving them, tracing down her body, caressing her still-thin legs.

"Didn't I say something earlier about keeping your mind out of the gutter." Demi laughed, breaking the kiss.

"If being in the gutter means being with you then I never wanna come out." Bradin said with a grin, leaning in to kiss her again. Their lips joined playfully for a moment.

"If it means being with me? In bed!" Demi said, pulling away from the kiss again.

"Hey, I can't help wanting to make up for lost time. All these months I've wanted you, and now we're together. You can't blame me for wanting to." Bradin said, not plunging straight back into the kiss again.

"Bradin, you know I want you, too. But Sean's right there, and I did it as a one of yesterday, it's weird thinking we had sex when he was literally like 2 feet away. And I want it to be special." Demi told him, gazing up into his eyes.

"Special…" Bradin said thoughtfully, a broad grin breaking out on his face a moment later. "As you wish." He said, giving her a quick kiss and leaving the room. Demi watched him leaving the room, still staring at the door with a confused expression moments later.

--In Nikki's room, later that day--

"Come in!" Nikki called, in answer to the knock on her door.

"Hey, Nik, can I ask you a favour?" Bradin asked.

"Shoot." She said with a smile.

"Would you be able to babysit for tonight?"

"…why?" Nikki asked. Of course she would do it, loving being able to spend time with her nephew, but she also loved to be nosy, so decided to squeeze some information out of Bradin.

"Come on, Nik, please? I'll pay you." Bradin said, a little desperately.

"I'll do it if you tell me why." Nikki said with a grin.

"I wanna take Demi out tonight, y'know just do something special for her. She _has _just had my baby, after all." Bradin said, convincingly.

"Ok, what time will you be back?"

"Um, I'm not sure, but you can just put Sean's Moses basket up here in your room and go to sleep, we'll be back when you wake up." Nikki studied her brother for a moment.

"Will you be back by midnight?" She asked curiously.

"I don't know, Nik, it'll be late. What's with the 21 questions?" He asked impatiently.

"Brae, she's just had a baby, don't go trying to get her pregnant again." Nikki said with a laugh.

"Just say you'll babysit him."

"You know I will, I love spending time with him. And, no, you don't have to pay me. I just like being nosy." Nikki said with a grin, laying back on her bed and reading her magazine again, ignoring the look Bradin was giving her.

--A little later--

After Bradin had deftly 'tripped' and sent a cup full of sticky coke all over Demi, mostly in her hair, he set out some nice clothes on her bed whilst she showered. He'd already showered himself so quickly got changed into a pair of dark jeans and a white shirt, fixing his hair, before going back into Demi's room and waiting for her to get out of the shower. He laughed quietly to himself as she sang 'Talk dirty to me' by Poison loudly, probably since she'd played it on guitar hero with Derrick earlier, even adding in guitar sounds now and then.

"Bradin! What are you doing in here?" Demi asked, a bit shocked when she'd gotten out of the shower. He looked at him curiously when she noticed how he'd dressed.

"Get dressed." He said smiling, glancing at the clothes he'd laid out for her. "We're going out."

"Got a 'special' plan?" Demi asked pointedly, giggling. He raised his eyebrows cheekily before leaving her room so she could change.

P/S: I don't own 'Talk dirty to me' by poison, don't ask why I chose it, I honestly have no idea xD It was that or Kid Rock - All summer long, which I'm listening to now. Review :D


	39. Chapter 39

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. Original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

A/N: Thanks to everyone reading and reviewing :D Ok, just to warn you, this chapters kinda what you'd call fluff lol.

And though I said I corrected the chapter mistake before, I didn't. I posted it twice, but I only just realised. D'oh! So here's the part that was missing =)

Chapter 39:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So, where are you taking me?" Demi asked, buckling her seatbelt.

"You'll see." Bradin smiled, starting up the engine. After a 15 minute drive of laughing and talking, Bradin pulled up outside a familiar restaurant, an expensive restaurant her ex-boyfriend had taken her to once upon a time.

"Ocean and Vine." Demi said, more to herself than Bradin.

"Like it?" He asked, smiling hopefully. She loved the effort he was putting into pleasing her. She nodded, taking his hand in hers as they walked into the restaurant.

"Welcome to _Ocean and Vine_, do you have a reservation." A middle aged man asked them when they entered the restaurant.

"Westerly." Bradin told him. The man scanned a list.

"Right this way." He said with a polite smile, seating them at a table and giving them menus. "Shall I take your drink orders now?" He asked routinely.

"2 cokes." Bradin ordered.

"Kinda like the one you spilt down me earlier." Demi said, smirking, once the man had walked away. "Hey, that wasn't on purpose by any chance, was it?"

"You really do know everything, huh?" Bradin laughed.

"You could've just asked, y'know."

"Maybe, but then I wouldn't have been able to surprise you, and it wouldn't be as special." Bradin replied pointedly. Bradin ordered the soup for their starters when the waiter came over and they sat and talked, waiting for it.

"So what have you done with Sean for the night?" Demi asked.

"Got Nikki to babysit." Bradin said with a shrug. They linked their fingers from across the table and waited patiently for their starters, spending more time gazing at one another than talking.

---After eating at _Ocean and Vine_---

"Thank you." Demi said, leaning over and kissing Bradin in the car.

"You're welcome. Now come on, get strapped in."

"Yes sir." Demi said with a chuckle. They drove off again, zigzagging down roads, heading home. "Bradin, wasn't that our turn." Demi asked, looking back to the road they'd skipped. Bradin smiled and said nothing, continuing to drive in the direction of the beach. "Where are you taking me?" Demi laughed.

"I _could _tell you… but I won't." Bradin teased. A minute later he parked up in the beach's parking lot.

"So this is your grand surprise?" Demi asked, giggling. Bradin took her hand in his and kissed her, pulling apart far before Demi was ready, grinning as he walked down to the beach. "Hey, if your going to be cruel, so will I." Demi retaliated.

"There's plenty of time for that later." Bradin laughed, and they continued to walk along the beach and were soon climbing across the rocks.

"Is there actually a set destination or are we just walking until one of us falls?" Demi asked after at least 5 minutes of walking over jagged rocks.

"Sometimes, babe, you talk too much." Bradin said smirking. They finally reached flat ground. "Look." Bradin told her, pointing out to the sea. She did as she was told and looked out, seeing a beautiful orange sun set into the sea slowly. Bradin stood behind Demi as she watched, snaking his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her right shoulder. It was so beautiful, Demi was stunned by the view. She couldn't believe she'd been in Playa Linda for so long and never once took the time out to do something like this.

"It's beautiful." She whispered.

"I thought you'd like it." Bradin told her, smiling. She turned around, Bradin's arms still around her waist and kissed him. He allowed the kiss to linger this time, before pulling away again. "But the nights not over yet." He smiled as he reached down and took her hand again, slowly walking backwards. He walked her inside a cave, one that Demi had never even seen before, despite having walked over the rocks quite a few times. She gasped when they got inside. There were quilts and blankets laid out with loads of fluffy cushions. Bradin fished into a bag hidden behind a rock and got out some matches. He began to light several candles around the cave, making in look even more beautiful in the soft orange glow.

"Oh my God… Bradin, you did all this?" She asked, still looking around in awe.

"Do you like it?" Bradin asked a little nervously.

"Bradin, this is the single most sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me, ever." She kissed him sweetly, her eyes sliding shut as she wrapped her arms around his neck, loving how amazing he was.

"And you still want everything to be special, right?" He asked, grinning a little.

"What else could you possibly have in mind?" She asked with a giggle. He walked over to the bag he'd gotten the candles from, fiddling with something inside it.

"Wanna dance?" Bradin asked as a beautiful Spanish song started playing.

"You really thought of everything, didn't you." She said, staring at her wonderful boyfriend, wrapping her arms around his neck as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"I just wanted everything to be perfect for you." Bradin said sincerely, as they began to move to the rhythm of the music.

"How did you even find this place?"

"I kinda owe it to my ex-girlfriend. I lost my virginity to her in this cave."

"It's kinda weird. We went to _Ocean and Vine, _and I lost my virginity after going there, then we come here to this cave." Bradin laughed.

"Well, I didn't plan on that but now you mention it, yeah, it's a bit weird."

"Well, if you think it makes everything more special…" She said, smiling up at him. She gazed up into his eyes, her smile slowly fading. "I love you, Bradin." She said seriously. He looked at her for another moment, before lowering his lips to hers. They slowly lowered to the ground, not parting their lips for a second. They kissed slowly, 'Mas y mas' still playing in the background. Nothing was rushed, everything was slow and sensual. Demi pulled open the buttons of Bradin's shirt, pushing it down his arms. Bradin pulled it off and threw it behind them on the cave floor. She lifted her back off the floor a little, stopping the kiss for the first time as Bradin pulled her dress over her head. Bradin leaned back over her again. They looked at each other for another moment, a little smile appearing on both their faces before they kissed again, still taking their time, wanting to make the night as special as possible. Soon they were once again having sex, but everything felt so much better. They moaned and groaned together, feeling like they'd never felt before, as the night went on, and on, and on.

P/S: Wow, that was a HELL of a lot shorter than I expected, buy I don't want everything in one chapter, sorry! The song Bradin played is 'Mas y mas' by Robi Draco Rosa, it's the same song Sara played when Bradin lost his virginity, I couldn't find anything better, lol. Please review :D


	40. Chapter 40

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. Original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended._

A/N: Ok, lotsa fluff lately, so drama starts… now! :D

Chapter 39:

--

Demi's eyes flew open as she heard a bag zip being pulled loudly. She looked up to see Bradin smiling at her, packing all the candles back into the bag.

"Morning." He said, leaning down and kissing her. Demi happily obliged to his lips. Last night's memories flooded her brain, bringing a smile to her face as she remembered how amazing it had been.

"Morning." She replied once they broke apart.

"So," Bradin said, sitting down next to her. "On a scale of 1 to 10, how special would you say last night was?" He asked smugly.

"Hmm," She said, smirking as she pulled a face, deep in thought. "I'd say about 100." She put a hand on the back of his neck, pulling him down so that his lips met hers again. He manoeuvred himself so that he was on top of her again, his freshly clothed body on top of her naked skin, moaning into the kiss, wanting more.

"We'd better get back." Bradin said, reluctantly pulling out of the kiss a few minutes later. Demi ignored this and leaned back up to kiss him. "I'm serious, I promised Nikki we'd be home before she wakes up." Bradin chuckled.

"What time is it?" He fished his mobile out of his bag, his eyes widening when he saw the time. "Come on, we'd better get back. There's some clothes for you in the bag."

"Wow, you really _did_ think of everything." Bradin smiled and turned around while she got dressed, and soon they left the cave, making their way back to the car.

--Back at the house--

"Do I want to ask where you two have been all night?" Ava asked, raising a disapproving eyebrow.

"Sorry, we lost track of time." Bradin apologised.

"Well don't let it happen again. I don't want you leaving Nikki with a baby for a whole night." Ava warned. Demi nodded, walking over to Nikki who was in the kitchen, feeding Sean a bottle.

"Hey, little guy." She said sweetly to him.

"I'm guessing you had fun last night." Nikki said, smirking.

"He wasn't any bother last night, was he?" Demi asked, ignoring what she'd said but grinning all the same.

"Not really. We got up about quarter to 5. He did go to bed quite early, though."

"All the lazy git does is sleep." Bradin laughed. Nikki burped him and passed him to Demi, running upstairs, saying something about phoning Cam. Demi kissed Sean on the forehead. She felt like everyone else saw him more than her, so decided to dedicate today to him. She went into her room and dressed him in a tiny pair of jeans, and a blue top with a blue cardigan, socks and a hat to match. She laid him on the centre of her bed whilst she ran a brush through her hair, before wrapping him in a blanket and putting him in his pram.

"Where are you going?" Ava asked, seeing Demi about to go out of the door with the pram.

"On a walk. Maybe do a bit of shopping." Demi said, smiling. She set off out the house and made her way to the shops. The first one she stopped in was the one she and Bradin had went in to but Sean's crib and pram, etc. She zigzagged down the isles, passing other happy mothers and smiling inwardly. There were so many cute things Demi wanted to buy. She bought quite a few small toys for when Sean was in the pram or on the floor, etc, and she bought a mobile for Sean's crib, for when they finally decided to set that up. She paid and left, smiling happily, feeling weird mum-sy feeling.

"Demi?" Demi turned around to find out who had called her, stopping short of the automatic doors to the shop she was about to go to for diapers. "Oh my God, you've given birth already? Isn't it a bit early?" Britney asked, walking up to her.

"Yeah, a bit, but he's fine." Demi told her with a smile.

"Aww, he's so cute! What's his name?"

"Sean." Demi smiled as one of her best friends cooed to her baby.

"Are you still putting him up for adoption?"

"No, we're keeping him." Britney looked at her with a puzzled look. "Me and Bradin are together now." Demi said, laughing.

"No way! Oh my God, you and Bradin?! What about you and Adam?"

"He's a paranoid, non-trusting ass." Demi giggled. "Were you about to come in here, too? I need nappies for Sir Shits-a-lot." Britney nodded and they walked in together.

"So, Demi, how busy will you be with mom stuff Saturday night?" Britney asked as Demi threw diapers and wipes into a basket.

"What do you mean?"

"There's a big party down at the beach, you and Bradin should definitely come… um, I think Adam might be there, too, but you can just ignore him, right?"

"Sure, we'll be there." Demi told her smiling. "I'm sure I can get someone to babysit."

"Great! Man, I can't wait to tell the girls you'll be there, we've missed you! And now you can come to all the parties again since you're not heavily preggers." They both laughed.

"So, what's been going on with everyone lately?" Demi asked, seeing as she'd been out of the loop a little lately.

"Hayden's got a new boyfriend."

"Which one is it this time?" Demi giggled as she made her way to the checkout.

"Matt."

"Matt the surfer?" Britney nodded. "God, I hate him, what does she see in him?"

"Beats me. _And _he's got her pregnant, but she's booked an abortion. Don't tell anyone, by the way, it's a secret."

"How long have they been together?" Demi asked, hearing a few little '_beep_'s, fishing some money out of her purse to pay.

"About a week." Britney replied. Demi raised her eyebrows.

"A week? Oh my God!"

"Yeah, I know. Well, I've gotta go find something to wear on Saturday. I hope you come, Demi, and if you can't get a babysitter, leave Bradin at home and come and have some fun." Britney laughed, quickly hugging Demi.

"I'll bear that in mind." Demi laughed. "See you on Saturday." And with that Britney walked off.

"Where to next?" Demi thought aloud, looking down at Sean. She finally decided to do some clothes shopping for him and set off walking again.

--A few minutes later--

"Aww." Demi said quietly to herself, grinning. She looked at all the tiny clothes and the cute little baby bootees. The cute little bootees were the first to go into her basket, followed by more pairs of jeans, several different tops, a few cardigans and a coat. When she got down the next isle she added tiny little socks to the basket and a few pairs of pyjamas. She zigzagged down more isles, smiling inwardly at all the cute things she saw. Deciding to be prepared, she got some teething toys. Not able to find much else that she needed she headed once again to the checkout and paid, her eyes widening when she saw how much everything came to. Who knew baby clothes could cost so much? She got a credit card from her purse and paid, not having nearly enough cash on her. Hanging the bags on the arms of the pram she set off again. She set off home, not needing to buy much else and needing to get away from shops before she started spending money again.

"Nice baby, Demi." Said a gruff voice from behind her. A familiar rancid smell filled her nose as she froze in fear. She looked around. The little street was deserted. "You know, a phone call would suffice." The voice said again, as someone emerged from the alley next to her. "I like to hear when I become a grandmother." Demi tried to speak, but nothing came, her breathing simply became more panicked. "Isn't he cute." Her mother said, walking over to her and peering into the pram.

"Don't touch him." Demi said, suddenly finding her voice. Her mother turned, looking at her evilly, before punching her with such force that she hit the ground. When she found the strength to lift her head she saw her mother holding her son in one arm, taking a drag from a cigarette every now and then. "Get off him."

"You won't let a grandmother hold her grandson?" She asked with a filthy look. She harshly shoved Sean back into his pram. Demi jumped up at the sound of him crying. "What do you think you're doing?" She spat, blocking Demi from getting to the pram.

"Get away from my son." Demi said in a shaky voice. Every inch of her body was shaking with fear. She couldn't believe this was happening. She couldn't believe her mother was back. "What are you doing here?" Demi asked.

"Word travels, Demi. And I thought I'd come and see my bitch of a daughter. Turns out you're a slut now, too."

"You don't know nothing about me."

"I'm your mother." She said, stepping forward to intimidate Demi.

"You've got a funny way of showing it." Demi shot back. Her mothers face filled with rage as she hit Demi again, shoving her to the floor and continuing to beat her, worse than she'd done before. Demi screamed loudly.

"Shut up!" She shouted. The beating continued until Demi could barely move. "I should've gotten this over and done with a long time ago. You're the biggest mistake of my life, Demi. I should've gotten rid of you when I could, but no, I gave you a chance. And this is how you repay me. Every single day of your life you've worked to make mine a living hell."

"What are you talking about, you drunk bitch?" Demi said quietly through tears, unable to move from the floor. Sean was still crying. Demi was kicked in the stomach once again as her mother became even more irritable.

"I never wanted you. You're just the result of a drunken one night stand." She ranted. Demi considered saying something to this, but decided against getting hurt again. "You were a mistake. A mistake that needs to be fixed." She said wickedly, a dark smile crossing her face. Demi's heart began to beat even faster. As if from nowhere, she pulled out a gun. Demi's eyes widened. How could she not have noticed a gun sticking out of her back pocket?

"Please, no-"

"I'm going to kill you Demi, and your son. Problem solved."

"HELP!!" Demi called frantically. Demi was kicked hard in the face. The gun was raised, her hand didn't tremble at all as she pointed it at her daughter.

"NO!!" Someone tackled her to the ground, the gun shooting at the wall as she fell to the floor. Demi had closed her eyes tightly when the gun was first pointed at her. She opened her eyes to see who her saviour was. At the exact moment that she did so, she saw her furious mother on the floor, pushing the gun into someone's chest. Just as she caught a glimpse of who it was, the gun sounded again.

"NO!!" Demi cried, tears streaming down her face. His body became immobile, his eyes still open. He was dead. Her mother couldn't move, she was trapped beneath the weight of Demi's saviour.

"What the hell-" Someone had came out of their house upon hearing the racket.

"Call the police!! NOW!!" Demi screamed, shaking from head to toe with panic. Sean cried even louder in his cot since hearing the harshly loud gunshots. Demi grabbed the gun, the panic she felt being coupled with rage.

"Are you really going to kill your own mother?" She asked with an evil laugh.

"You were going to kill your own daughter." She said, her voice trembling like never before. "And your grandson." Tears fell faster down her face.

"You don't have the guts." Demi hit her hard with the heavy, metal shotgun. She hit her again and again. She was unconscious. "Oh my God." She said through thick sobs, closing the very familiar boy's eyes. She was terrified, blood was soaking both her mother and the floor, but she was furious, too. Demi's hand trembled as she pointed the gun at her mother's face. The man who she had told the call the police had rushed out of the house.

"Put the gun down, I know your not a killer." He said calmly, looking at her tear stained face and her terribly shaky hand. "The police are on their way with an ambulance." He said. She dropped the gun, crying. A moment later he was helping her up off the floor. She couldn't stand and fell limp in his arms. He helped her to sit on the little wall next to them.

"Is my baby ok?" Demi asked, still crying. The man picked Sean up.

"He's fine." He said, hushing him. "God, that kid was far too young to die." Demi nodded, her crying becoming worse. "You know him?" Demi nodded again. "The police are going to ask a load of questions." He said gently. "Think you're up to re-telling the story?"

--Ten minutes later--

Demi watched as her mother was handcuffed and shoved into the back of a police car. The little area had been surrounded in police tape, a crowd gathering outside it, and Demi was being looked over in the ambulance.

"I'm fine, really, I just want my son." She told the paramedic.

"Don't worry, your son is being looked after by a policewoman outside, you'll see him very soon." She told her as she continued to care to the many little injuries her mother had just given her.

A little while later and Demi was allowed to go and see her son. She held him closely to her, feeling like she never wanted to let go of him again. She looked over at Michael, the man who'd called the police. He was giving a statement to the police, pointing at Demi as he told his version of the story. She looked over to the sidewalk. Tears stung her eyes as she saw her saviour covered in a red blanket, several people around him. She held Sean even closer to her as tears fell from her eyes. The policewoman who'd looked after Sean whilst she was in the ambulance came over to her.

"Hey, how are you doing?" She asked sincerely. Demi simply shrugged her shoulders. "It's Demi, right?" She nodded. "Well, you're needed for a statement. Do you want me to take your baby whilst you give it? It'll only take about 5 minutes." She asked kindly.

"His name's Sean." She said, handing him to her and walking over to the police who were beckoning her.

"How are you feeling, Miss?" A policeman asked sympathetically.

"Well, my mother just tried to kill me and my son and then murdered someone in front of my very eyes, other than that I'm fine." Her voice was void of emotion, although she'd meant to sound sarcastic.

"I'm terribly sorry, Miss…"

"King. Demi King."

"I know this is a hard time for you at the moment, but your mother has committed a terrible crime and we really need a statement from you, being an eye witness and all. Would you mind retelling what had happened for me?" Demi took a deep breath.

"I was walking home. I'd just been shopping with my son, buying him clothes and stuff. My mom said 'Nice baby, Demi.'. I couldn't see her at first, but then she stepped out of that alley." She said, looking over to it. The policeman scribbled down every word. "The she told me that I could've told her she was a grandmother, and then she started looking in the pram and saying 'Isn't he cute.' I told her not to touch him. She punched me and I fell to the ground, and when I got back up she was holding him. I told her to get off him and she slammed him down into his pram. I got up to get him, because he started crying, but she blocked me. Then I asked her what she was doing here and she said that word travels and she'd came to see me, then she said that I'm a bitch and a slut. I told her she knows nothing about me. She told me that she's my mother. I said she has a funny way of showing it and she- she beat me up. Really bad. I couldn't move off the floor." Her voice was beginning to sound croaky as tears fell from her cheeks. The policeman nodded understandingly, silently willing her to carry on. "She- she started ranting on about how she never loved me and that I'm a mistake and she hates me. Then she said she's going to fix her mistakes. She pulled a gun out of her back pocket and said she was going to kill me and Sean." The crying gradually became worse. "I screamed for help but she pointed the gun at me. I closed my eyes, I was terrified, and I heard someone scream 'NO' and they tackled her to the ground. When I opened my eyes to see who it was she put the gun to his chest and shot him." She was sobbing now, trying to control herself as she told the story. _'__It__'__s nearly over, come on Demi.__'_ She thought to herself. "He just became immobile and his eyes were still open. My mom couldn't move because he was laying on top of her. Blood was just pouring from his chest and soaking my mom and the floor." She sobbed even more, becoming incontrollable, but the policeman could still understand what she was saying. "Michael came out and I told him to call the police. Then I hit my mom with the gun until she was unconscious."

"Miss King, who is the boy? Is he any relation to you?"

"His name's Adam Carter. He's my ex-boyfriend."

P/S: Dun. Dun, dun. XD Ok, you probably hate me for the wait and all, but you found out in the end, right? Revie- oh hell you know what to do :P

P/P/S: Ok, I don't know whether the next chapter will be up tomorrow, sorry! 1st of all, I need to finish writing, which is really weird since I'm normally like 10 chapters ahead of you guys lol and I am literally _this_ close to throwing my laptop at the wall. It's never spazzed up or virused on me before but now it decides to, I am seriously AMAZED I've gotten this far on the internet. So sorry in advance!


	41. Chapter 41

Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. Original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.

A/N: WOW! I can't believe it's been 17 days since I updated. Sorry, sorry, sorry! I've been pretty busy lately, lame excuse, I know lol. Well, I tried to make it long for my SERIOUS lack of updating lately, and here it is. The LAST EVER chapter of the story sniff sniff

Chapter 40:

--

"I can't believe Karen went this far. It's ok, Demi, you're safe now." Johnny said, pulling her into a hug. He had been let through the police tape to see Demi, the crowd had grown, so too had the noise.

"At least she can't get us now. She'll be in prison, where she belongs." Demi said, hugging her uncle tight.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through all that, Demi. I wish I could've been here to stop it, I wish you didn't have to see Adam-" Demi winced at the sound of his name. "- Sorry." He said, pulling out of the embrace.

"It's ok. I just can't believe it. He's gone. He's really, really gone. And he died because of me."

"No, Demi, it's not your fault, it's your mothers fault, I will not let you blame yourself."

"_But he died for __me_. He died to save me." Demi said, the constant flow of tears becoming heavier.

"Demi, this is not your fault. He did a great thing, saving you and Sean. And everything would've worked out fine if your mother wasn't still able to shoot… I don't know what to say, Demi, but what I do know is that this is not your fault. Let's just be grateful your mom's going to prison and she can't hurt you. I'm just so sorry about all this."

"Thanks, Uncle Johnny."

"Demi!!" Demi's head twisted quickly to find the source of the person shouting her. She found him running up, joining the flock of people, pushing his way to the front.

"Let him through!" Demi shouted to the policeman who was keeping everyone behind the tape. Once he was through he ran up to Demi, hugging her tightly.

"I came as soon as I heard. Oh my God, are you ok?" Bradin asked, pulling away from the hug and putting a lock of hair behind Demi's ear.

"I guess." She said sadly, looking up at him with bloodshot eyes.

"Is it true? That someone died? Because there's already rumours going round town." Bradin asked curiously. Demi gave a sob, looking over to where Adam's dead body lay, covered in a red blanket. "Oh my God, it's true." He said, looking at where Demi was looking. "Demi, who is it?"

"He died to save us." Demi said with a sob. "My mom was going to kill me and Sean. Bradin, Adam's dead." She rested her head on his chest, her crying once again becoming incontrollable, everything she said was inaudible. Bradin simply stared, wide eyed, at where his old best friends body lay. After a few moments he broke out of the trance and wrapped his arms once more around his sobbing girlfriend, stoking her hair, trying his best to comfort her.

--Later that night--

"Are you ok, sweetie?" Ava asked, setting a cup of tea down in front of Demi and sitting next to her, placing an arm over her shoulder.

"It's- It's just taking a while to sink in." Demi said quietly, picking up her cup. She could tell she was going to get asked this question a lot, she'd already had a reporter interview her.

"Ok, I've just put Sean down to sleep." Johnny said, walking out of Demi's room. "Dem, are you-"

"I'm fine." Demi said quickly, not meaning to snap. Ava and Johnny exchanged quick looks, not thinking Demi noticed, but of course she did. "I'm going to bed." Demi said with a sigh, even though it was only about 8.

"So, what are we supposed to do?" Johnny asked quietly once Demi's door was shut.

"I don't know, Johnny, this is all new, to all of us. Non of us can relate to what she's feeling right now, her mother just tried to _kill _her, and Sean. I guess we'll just… keep an eye on her. Make sure she's dealing with everything ok." Ava took another sip of her coffee. Silence fell in the room for a few minutes. "Poor Adam." Ava continued. "And to have to see something like that… from your own _mother!__"_

"Yeah, well, my family isn't exactly renowned for its great people." Johnny said sadly, painful childhood memories flooding his brain. Ava wrapped her arms around her husband comfortingly.

--Elsewhere--

Looking up at the nice big house, he could hear quiet crying coming from the open bedroom window. Having been in the house before, he knew it was his sister Sydney's room. Bradin sighed and continued to walk aimlessly through the streets, feeling a strange mixture of emotions he'd never quite felt before. He was grieving over the loss of a close friend, hurt and sadness panging at him. He felt angry and furious at Karen, his girlfriends mother for killing his friend and for trying to kill his girlfriend and son. He felt overwhelming relief that they were still alive, making him happy, which made him guilty for feeling happy at a time like this. And on top of all that, he felt that his and Demi's love couldn't be stronger, he loved her so much, he felt they could survive anything!

"Bradin!" He heard a familiar voice shout.

"Hey." He replied, turning around to see his ex-girlfriend Callie running up to him. She looked back at Adam's house a little way down the street.

"I guess it's true what everyone's saying then." She said, having heard the crying. Bradin simply nodded.

"How's Demi? Is it true she's had the baby already? Everyone's saying that woman tried to murder Demi and a kid."

"She's… coping. I haven't really spoken to her that much since it happened, y'know. She's upset so it's hard to talk to her sometimes, I think she feels guilty, like it's her fault. And yeah, Sean's like 3 days old. Feels like a million years ago that he was born." Bradin said with a laugh, showing Callie a picture of him in his wallet.

"I can't believe he's dead…" Callie said sadly after a moment. It had been no secret to most people lately that Callie had a huge crush on him, and things had started to look good for the two of them lately. Bradin pulled her into a hug.

"I think he really liked you, Callie. And if everything was normal, I bet you'd be together. I'm sorry." Bradin sad, pulling out of the embrace as Callie gave a weak smile.

"Well, I hope Demi coped with it alright. Tell her I'm here for her." Callie said sadly. Bradin nodded.

"I just don't know what I'm supposed to do or what to say to her." He said with a defeated sigh.

"Well, maybe you should do something nice for her, y'know, take her mind of his death, at least for a little while." Bradin thought about this for a moment.

"Yeah, thanks Callie."

"It's ok. Anyway, I'll see you later, I gotta go and meet some friends down at the beach." And with that she was gone, leaving Bradin alone. He looked around, not even realising where they had walked to. He was stood outside the mall, a place he guessed Demi had been earlier that day, before all the drama. He walked inside, deciding he needed a drink. After slotting a coin into the drinks machine and getting a bottle of coke, he turned around, looking up at the shop. _'__Of course!__'_He thought. How could he not have thought of that. He finally knew what he could do for Demi.

--Elsewhere (yet again lol)--

"Stop it." She said with a silly giggle. He ignored her and continued to kiss her playfully. "We can't." She said, lowering her voice but smirking all the same.

"Come on, who's gunna know?" He said as his hand began to wander.

"Stop it." She laughed. "What if someone walks in?" He grinned cheekily, kissing her again and she happily obliged. He kissed her until she was on her back. Just as he removed his lips from her and planted them on her chest, a quiet sobbing could be heard from beneath them. Sympathy washed over Nikki's face as she looked to the floor.

"Come on, Nik." Cam pleaded, knowing what she was thinking. She bit her lip.

"I'll be right back." She got up and made her way down the stairs and into Demi's room. She looked a little surprised when she saw Nikki come in, quickly wiping her face and hiding it. "You ok?" Nikki asked, sitting down next to her on the bed.

"Yeah, I'm fine, it's just everything's… weird." Demi said, sniffing, her voice a little croaky.

"Look on the bright side, Demi. Your mom's gone to prison, she can't get you anymore, she can't get Sean either." She said, looking down at the little bundle in the Moses basket. Demi had been keeping him especially close to her recently.

"I know, and it's not that, it's just… I can't believe it. Adam's dead." She said, burying her face in her hands. "And I'm so scared, all the time. Ever since she pointed that gun at me, I just…" She didn't finish the sentence, not quite knowing what to say, but Nikki seemed to understand, pulling her into a hug.

"Demi, you need to give it some time. This only happened yesterday, of course you're still going to be scared!" Nikki told her.

"Um, Nikki?" Cam poked his head around the door. "Sorry, I'm just gunna go now, my dad called."

"Well…" Nikki said, looking at Demi.

"Go, it's fine." Demi said, forcing a smile on her face. Nikki returned it, though knowing how fake it was, and left the room with Cam. Demi sighed. She hated thinking about it, and even letting her mind wander to this, but how could she help it. Everyone keeps telling her it's not her fault, but at the end of the day it must be. If she hadn't had Sean, her mother wouldn't have hunted her down. If she was never even born, her mother would have no reason to hunt her down and subsequently kill Adam. There were so many reasons running through her head why it was her fault. If she'd never ran away and just put up with her mother, Adam would be alive, she wouldn't have Sean, but she could live with that. But she couldn't turn back time. And so the thought swirled around in her head again. She was a _murderer._ She blinked back tears as the thought hit her again and lay flat on the bed again, eventually drifting into an uneasy sleep.

--A few days later--

Everyone bustled around getting ready. Demi couldn't believe it. In a few short hours they'd all be saying their final goodbyes to Adam. She had thought she'd be ok. She'd had time to come to terms with everything, but she was still a wreck. The world carried on as usual around her, seeming to go at double speed, but going slow for her, making every second hurt.

Demi groaned when she looked in the baby bag to find she had no diapers left and an extra smelly baby. She hated having to deal with getting used to motherhood and the grieving process, and she felt she may explode if someone asked her one more time if she's ok.

"Where are you going?" Ava asked with a hint of suspicion in her voice as she headed for the door with Sean in his pram. She felt like Ava and Johnny were keeping tabs on her lately.

"Out of diapers." She replied, closing the door behind her. She walked quickly, not wanting to stop to talk to anyone, as she had had to quite a lot recently. She scanned the packs of diapers along the aisles when she finally got to the store, looking for the right size.

"Demi?" A woman's voice from behind her asked. _'__Great.__'_ Demi thought. She turned around, not recognising the woman stood in front of her.

"Yeah?" She began to rack her brains. She was sure she'd seen this woman's face somewhere. The woman peered over Demi's shoulder into the pram.

"So I guess this is the result of you cheating on my son." Demi's eyes widened. She'd never met Adam's parents, but knew where she'd seen her now. On the two rare occasions when Demi had been to Adam's house, she had seen them on photographs. Demi could sense the hurt in her voice, so decided not to get angry at what she'd said.

"Mrs Carter, I- I'm terribly sorry about what happened to Adam, really I am. I've had a hard time dealing with it myself-"

"Oh really?" She snapped, a hint of nastiness in her voice. "How do you think we feel. Our Adam was a smart boy. He had a future ahead of him, a great life, and now it's all ruined, all because he fell in love with a tramp like you. It's your fault my son's dead." She said coldly, an angry tear falling down her cheek. Demi was gob smacked. The atmosphere could be cut with a knife. She stood silently, mouth ajar. The words spiralled in her head, very similar to what she had already been telling herself. _'__It__'__s your fault.__'_ Tears prickled in her eyes. She dropped the pack of diapers in her hand and fled from the shop.

--Back at home--

Bradin listened at the door of his sobbing girlfriend. He'd been waiting for the right time to talk to her, but it hadn't came yet. _'__Maybe I should wait until after the funeral__'_Bradin thought. He jumped when the door opened at just that moment.

"Hey." She said, a little shocked to find him there.

"Hey." Bradin said a little flustered. _'__What the hell.__'_ He thought, deciding it was now or never. "Um, listen, I've been wanting to ask you something…"

"Sorry, Brae, can it wait? It's just I _really_ need some diapers for Sean, he stinks. Could you look after him while I nip to the shops again? In fact, could you take him with you to the funeral, I'll meet you there." She put the tiny baby in his arms, painting a smile on her face. Bradin suspected it was fake, but didn't want to question her at a time like this.

"Sure. I guess I'll see you there then."

"Bye, Bradin." She kissed him for a moment, breaking away and leaving the house before Bradin had chance to say another word. She opened the car door and started up the engine, exhaling slowly. She needed a break, at least for a little while. She drove up the road, watching as the house disappeared in her rear view mirror. She continued driving, a little over the speed limit. She didn't even look at the shops as she passed them, or the graveyard as she passed that. She just carried on, with no intention of stopping anytime soon.

P/S: What did you guys think?? Suck-y ending or not? I have got ideas for a sequel, but it's up to you guys if you wanna see that or if you're sick of me lol. It would take place about a year later but I have no idea what I'd call it. Please review and tell me whether you liked this chapter or not, and whether you like the idea of a sequel ) Thanks to everyone who had read this story, it's my first one and no way did I expect my view and review counts to be like they are, so thanks SO much, and bye


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